Plenty of happy fans drink to the success of Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame

PLENTY of happy fans are drinking to the success of Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame in the K2 1000 metre kayak final in Rio.

CHEERS boys.

That’s the call from Tugun and Avoca Beach Surf Club’s who are shouting free beer in support of K2 1000m paddlers Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame.

The world No. 2 pair advanced to the K2 1000m Olympic final in Rio, with a performance that suggests Australia are on the verge of another medal on the water.

Wallace and Tame were strong out of the start in their heat, finishing second, but by being beaten into first by Serbia, it meant they missed automatic progression to the final.

However, after winning their semi-final by more than a second over their nearest rival, Wallace revealed there was an upside to the back-to-back races in that both he and Tame’s local surf clubs were opening the bar for every minute that they compete in Rio.

Australia's Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame are through to the finals of the Men's K2 1000m. Picture: Brett Costello

“I don’t know if they’re joking around, but they said they’ll have free beers while we race,’’ Wallace said.

“So if we only gave them three minutes in the heats, we thought may as well give them at least six minutes of free beer.

“I’m picturing it and I’m hoping that they are.’’

Wallace and Tame are a formidable duo.

Wallace, 33 from Tugun, is the captain of the crew, with the Beijing gold medallist appearing at his third games in Rio.

Tame, 27, is the raw, wide-eyed rookie at his first games, who grew up on the NSW central coast and is willing to “die for his teammate and country.’’

“It’s what we wanted, to be in that final,’’ Tame said after the semi-final.

“I’ve just got to look at in a way that I’ve got three minutes to absolutely die out there.

“I said to someone before, today I became an Olympian, tomorrow I get the chance to be a champ with him (Wallace).’’

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Wallace said that with their finals berth confirmed, which is scheduled for 10.08pm (AEST) on Thursday night, both he and Tame were champing at the bit to go even faster in the medal race.

“I think I’m more confident after getting the first race done,’’ Wallace said.

“The most nervous race I’ve been over the past two Olympics games is always the first one.

“You know that you’ve been training well, you know that you’ve been doing good times in training, but then to put it into actual play on race is probably the most nervous.

“So once that heat is out of the way and done with., I was a lot more relaxed going into that semi final because I knew we executed such a good heat.

“In training we’ve been racing a ghost, in the stop watch. So to actually have other crews next to us, makes you relax a bit more.’’

The K2 duo are the only crew to have advanced to the Thursday night finals.

Sydney’s Naomi Flood left nothing behind in her semi-final, but in finishing sixth, failed to advance to the final.

And in just their second race together, K2 200m pair Daniel Bowker and Jordan Wood produced one of their best races to finish fifth in the semi final — but two placing’s shy of advancing to the final.

Originally published as Plenty of happy fans drink to the success of Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame