USAK PRESS RELEASE - Intermittent rain coupled with sweltering heat made for touch racing conditions as got underway the 2016 ICF Junior and U23 Slalom World Championships (July 12-17). The first category to take a crack at the challenging heats course were junior and U23 men's C1s.

Coming off of his 7th place finish in the final at World Cup 3, Zach "Bug" Lokken (Durango, CO) continued his streak of strong international performances by qualifying 10th in today's C1 men's U23 heats race. Lokken now will have two days of rest before returning to the water for Friday's semifinal competition. After some penalty troubles on his first run, Charlie Kieft (Portland, OR) encountered more difficulties when the water suddenly dropped in the middle of his second run. As a result, Kieft was granted a rerun but was unable to advance, finishing 53rd overall.

In the junior C1 men's age category, Tyler Smith (Huntersville, NC) paddled with the poise of a veteran to finish 11th and advance to Friday's semifinal. Making their international racing debut, Jake Verhaegh and David Kuehnert had solid races of their own, but did not advance through today's heats. In the end, Verhaegh finished 42nd overall and Kuehnert finished 44th overall.

Wednesday's schedule features the heats races for the junior and U23 men's K1 age categories.

Complete Results & Schedule