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U.S. teams take 8th and 9th at slalom Worlds
By Luke Dieker // USA Canoe-Kayak // October 3, 2005
The Slalom World Championships in Penrith, Australia wrapped up on Monday with the team competition. In the team competition, sets of 3 paddlers from each country paddle down the course at the same time. Timing begins when the first paddler passes through the start gate and stops when the last paddler crosses the finish line.
The US men’s canoe team of Benn Fraker (Peachtree City, Ga.), Austin Crane (Marietta, Ga.) and Jeff Larimer (Marietta, Ga.) finished the day in eighth place. They had a solid set of runs but were 39 seconds off of the winning time posted by the French team. The French team included the two time Olympic gold-medalist Tony Estanguet, Pierre Labarelle and Olivier Lalliet.
The US men’s kayak team of Brett Heyl (Bethesda, Md.), Scott Parsons (Bethesda, Md.) and Scott Mann (Bryson City, N.C.) had two very strong runs, but were only good enough to finish in ninth place. Winning the event was the French team which included 2004 Athens gold medalist Benoit Peschier, 2004 Athens bronze medalist and defending World Champion Fabian Lefevre and Julien Billaut.
The US did not field a team in the women’s kayak or men’s double canoe team competitions.
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