Maltese canoeists Nicki Borg Costanzi and Chris Camilleri produced credible performances in the second leg of the World Cup Sprint races in Racice, Czech Republic recently.

Both managed to improve slightly in quite tough conditions on the freshwater regatta course.

Borg Costanzi’s time in the 500m sprint heats was 2 minutes 21.39 seconds. She narrowly failed to overtake Tunisian competitor Ben-Ismail despite a strong start that put Borg Costanzi in con-tention in the first 150m.

The gusty crosswinds in the final 200m were an added obstacle but Borg Costanzi fought back, powering to a gallant charge in the last 75 metres.

Borg Costanzi will go into the third leg at Poznan ranked 36th in the world and with some useful lessons learned and valuable freshwater racing experience.

In the men’s 200m, Camilleri produced a personal best of 40.113 seconds in the heats. The judges had delayed the start by a minute, leaving all competitors struggling against the starting ducks.

This affected Camilleri who made a poor start but he recovered to set a new national record and secure a place in the semi-finals.

Camilleri enjoyed a better start in the semi, keeping pace with the rest of the field until the halfway mark, an important target for the Maltese canoeist this season in light of his difficulties at the start of races last term.

Camilleri finished the race in 39.830 seconds to further improve the national record but finished ninth. He is now 35th overall going into Poznan.

Nonetheless, his dedication is paying off as he narrowed the gap on the field to two seconds.