For IMMEDIATE Release

34th ICF Flatwater Racing World Championships

August 27, 2005 Zagreb, Croatia

Carrie Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) paddled a phenomenal race on Saturday at the Sprint World Championships, finishing 8th in the K-1 1000 meter A Final.

At the World Championships, there are both an A Final and a B Final. The A Final is the top nine boats and decides the three podium positions plus the ranking of boats four through nine. The B Final takes the next nine boats from their respective semi-finals and determines the ranking of boats 10 through 18.

Johnson’s finish proves she is one of the top female sprint paddlers in the world. Johnson is not done, however, as she has a K-1 500 meter A Final on Sunday. Johnson also paddled in the 200 meter distance, but did not progress past the semi-finals. At twenty-two years of age she is one of the youngest paddlers at the senior level on the world stage, and has so much potential for the future.

In other finals action, the C-2 of Jordan Malloch (Seattle, Wash.) and David Aldrich (San Diego, Calif.) finished sixth in the B Final. Malloch and Aldrich just paired up in the C-2 this year, and have greatly improved thus far.

The 200 meter heats and semis were also contested on Saturday, and Rami Zur (Berkeley, Calif.) finished first in his K-1 heat and third in his semi-final. His time was the tenth best overall, just missing the cut for the A Final.

The women’s K-4 of Maggie Hogan (San Diego, Calif), Kari-Jean MacKenzie (Richmond, B.C.), Morgan Feori (San Diego, Calif.) and Susannah Stucchio (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) also progressed to the semi-final in the 200 meter distance, but finished ninth in the race and did not progress to the finals.

The following US boats will be in action on Sunday, the final day of World Championship competition:

• Women’s K-1 500 meters A Final – Carrie Johnson (San Diego, Calif.)

• Men’s K-1 500 meters B Final - Rami Zur (Berkeley, Calif.)

• Men’s K-1 200 meters B Final – Rami Zur (Berkeley, Calif.)

• Men’s K-4 500 meters B Final - Morgan House (Gainesville, Ga.), Brandon Woods (Kaneohe, Hawaii), Danny Krawczyk (Bayside, N.Y.), Ty Hagler (Gainesville, Ga.)

Full results can be found on the organizer’s website at: http://www.kajak.hr/eng/wc2005.php

USA Canoe/Kayak, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is the National Governing Body for nine canoe and kayak racing sports, and is a member of the US Olympic Committee and the International Canoe Federation. For more information, please contact Luke Dieker at (704) 348-4330, or visit our website http://www.usack.org.

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