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| Jimmy Bøjesen decided to spend this weekend on completely different things than kayaking . Photo: Das Büro. |
This weekend’s Bagsværd Regatta offered a
remarkable race and drama both on and off the lanes in the men’s k1 200 meters.
At May’s two World Cup races in Poland
and Germany, Jimmy Bøjesen and Kasper Bleibach both raced to fight over the
Olympic spot in k1 200m, which Jimmy Bøjesen secured for Denmark at the 2011
World Championships in Hungary. In this battle, Kasper Bleibach drew the
longest straw with a margin of better times and placings.
However, none of the paddlers managed to
make it to the top, as Jimmy Bøjesen came fourth in the Duisburg B-final in
time 35.863, and Kasper Bleibach came third in the same B-final in time 35.838.
Shortly before Bagsværd Regatta where
all Danish paddlers had the chance to race against each other, the Danish Canoe
Association had submitted the Olympic nominations to The Sports Confederation
of Denmark (DIF) regarding the k1 200m spot at the Olympics, and nominated Kasper
Bleibach on the basis of the predetermined selection criteria of “best out of
three races”.
Casper Nielsen wins Bagsværd Regatta 2012 in K1 200 meter. Video: Jens Thybo
Jimmy Bøjesen was enrolled to Bagsværd Regatta, but the national team paddler had decided to spend the weekend on completely different things than kayaking. And the debate of DKF’s Olympic nomination for the k1 200m spot has certainly fueled during the past week.
Unfortunately, I’m aware of the problems
there has been along the way; I fully respect Kasper Bleibach and congratulate
him on the 200m spot. But naturally, I had rather seen Jimmy do the k1 200m,
and I hope DKF and Team Danmark will consider who should be doing k1 200m in
the future, says Lars Bøjesen on The Danish Paddling Magazine’s Facebook debate
site.
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| Casper Nielsen won Bagsværd Regatta. Photo: Jens Thybo. |
At the same time, this weekend’s
Bagsværd Regatta showed that Denmark’s currently fastest guy on the k1 200m
distance – with the absence of Jimmy Bøjesen – is Gladsaxe’s Casper Nielsen.
Casper Nielsen won Bagsværd Regatta in
front of Olympic nominee Kasper Bleibach and Esben Østergaard from the club
Odin in Odense. Esben is not on the national team, but was able to push both
Casper Nielsen and Kasper Bleibach to the fullest, and only 73/100 of a second
separated the gold from bronze in the race.
Following Bagsværd Regatta, Esben
Østergaard has been selected to do k1 200m at the U23 European Championships in
July in Portugal.
Results from Bagsværd Regatta 2012, k1
men 200m:
1
|
Casper
Nielsen
|
Gladsaxe
|
00:38:007
|
|
2
|
Kasper
Bleibach
|
Maribo
|
00:38:032
|
|
3
|
Esben
Østergaard
|
Odin
|
00:38:080
|
