Category: Athlete Development

French Nationals Trip 2023

   18 October 2023    Athlete Development, Racing

The annual junior development trip to the French National Championships took place on the 23rd – 24th September.

The team consisted of eight under 16 athletes and four under 14 athletes who all raced up an age group Under 16’s raced in the under 18 category and under 14 raced in the under 16 category.

After a long 24 hours of travelling, the team arrived in Decize on Friday afternoon, giving the athletes a chance to unload, check, set-up and paddle their K1s and K2s! It was exciting to see lots of new partnerships come together and athletes supporting each other.

The course was same as European Championships a couple years ago (though much cooler than the 2019 heat wave!). It consisted of three different lap sizes which was enough to confuse even the organisers who accidentally set the junior ladies the wrong number of laps!

The timetable followed a different format to that of our own Nationals in the UK, with K2 racing taking place on Saturday and K1 racing following on Sunday.

Racing kicked off on Saturday morning with Marcell Nagy (Reading Canoe Club) and Freddie Heard’s (Exeter Canoe Club) K2 taking an impressive 5th place, just a couple minutes down from the winners. Hannah Nagy (Reading Canoe Club) and Imogen Field (Elmbridge Canoe Club) finished in a respectable 8th place, having completed an additional 3.5km lap due to the incorrect communication regarding how many laps the course was! Had the organisers communicated the correct course, the girls K2 would have won the race!

Saturday afternoon saw more hard-fought battles and tough racing. Tyler Kinder (Reading Canoe Club) and Tom Hatton (Royal Canoe Club) had an excellent race keeping out of trouble and fighting hard to finish in a superb 4th place. Unfortunately, it was not to be for Isaac Aveson and Alex Worgan (both Royal Canoe Club) who had an unfortunate swim at the top of the course. They went on to put in an impressive chase, working their way back up the field at an amazing pace.

The girls K2 of Kamila Sklenarova (Norwich Canoe Club) and Frankie Scrivener (Falcon Canoe Club) had a flying start, managing to break away from the lead French girls and spending much of the race in the front. However, another course mishap led them to do an extra 3.5km lap, costing them a couple positions. Teammates Charlotte Fulford-Perez (Reading Canoe Club) and Emily Bowles-Trow (Addlestone Canoe Club) put in an commendable couple of laps but were unfortunately forced to retire.

Sunday morning marked the start of the K1 racing, kicking off with the junior boys at 9am. The early start bought cold, mist and reduced visibility, making for an atmospheric morning but challenging racing conditions! Marcell had a fantastic paddle, paddling his way into 13th place. It was a good day for the Nagy family, with Marcel’s sister Hanna executing a brilliant race, earning a 10th place finish. Unfortunately, Freddie and Imogen’s races ended with both athletes having to abandon the race.

The older athletes had a later start, by which point the sun had started to shine! Alex, Tom and Tyler had strong races, Tyler suffering from a slightly slower start, but working hard to recover his place. The trio finished in 5th, 6th and 8th places respectively. Isaac finished a little further back, nonetheless, securing a respectable finish in the top half of the race.  

Keen not to repeat the mistake of the day before, Kamila and Frankie took an early lead and dominated the race pulling out a 2-minute lead over the fastest French girls. Charlotte and Emily raced well coming in 4th and 8th.

The team’s impressive array of results was recognised by the organisers, with each athlete being given a small gift.

All in all, it was a successful weekend, allowing our young athletes to showcase their hard training and learn some important lessons that they can hopefully take forward into the 2024 racing season. The hard racing of all athletes on the trip was demonstrated by a remarkably quiet return journey!

Thank you to all the volunteers who made the trip possible, especially Julia, Colette and Elizabeth for all their help and patience over the weekend as staff.

Thank you to David Sackman for his help in constructing this report and his role as Team Leader for the trip.

JDS Winter Series 2023/24 – Day 1 Sign-up

   6 October 2023    Athlete Development, Coaching

The Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and BC Talent Department are excited to announce the sign-up for the first JDS Winter Series 2023/24 day is now open.

Hosted by Falcon Canoe Club, the day of consist for a K2/C2 Racing Skills focus and a great opportunity to mix and meet with other juniors from other clubs. Coaches are also encouraged to sign-up to support the day but also gain some CPD by working with other coaches as well as our coach developer, Scott Hynds. There will be an additional online coaches briefing in advance of the day on Tuesday 24th October at 19:30.

For full details and the links to sign up, visit our website here. Sign up closes on 20th October at 17:00.

Please also check the criteria for athletes attending and if in doubt, contact Charlie Barwis and Holly Mobbs using the emails on the website.

SAVE THE DATE – National Schools 2023

   4 October 2023    Athlete Development, National, Schools Racing

More information to follow….

Junior Development Squad Winter Training Days 2023/24

   20 September 2023    Athlete Development

The Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and British Canoeing Talent Department are excited to publicise the Junior Development Squad Winter Training days for the 2023/24 winter period.

The Junior Development Squad was established by the MRC many years ago to provide a supportive and enjoyable experience for juniors across the country to come together to develop skills, build confidence, create crew boats and form friendships. Over the last two years, the JDS has evolved into a collaboration with the SRC and BC Talent to ensure a joined up strategy towards junior development in the UK as well as engaging with and encouraging coaches within the flatwater community.

For further details on the JDS and the criteria for juniors to attend, visit the JDS website here.

Paracanoe Program Education Day

   17 September 2023    Athlete Development, Para

This year has seen so much success for Paracanoe paddlers, from Paralympic Quota spots booked, Sprint World Championship medals and a hugely successful Marathon World Championships. The Paracanoe department at British Canoeing want to continue to grow and develop such performances and opportunities by sharing insights into how you can make this possible within your environment. As well as enhance your coaching knowledge, which is applicable to any areas of coaching you may be involved in!

Following the successful first interactive day, the Paracanoe department at British Canoeing are laying out another face to face day that will cover a range of topics and workshops to help facilitate knowledge and share expertise.

The venue is yet to be confirmed but you can sign up here if you are interested in attending.

If you have any questions, contact Hannah Brown here.

GB-ONE Junior Conference October 2023

   11 August 2023    Athlete Development, Coaching

Following on from British Canoeing’s inaugural GB-ONE conference in March this year, they are going to be delivering a GB-ONE conference centred around junior development. Our Marathon Coach Development Lead, Scott Hynds, has been working with British Canoeing to design this event and it is also being supported by our Junior Development Leads, Holly Mobbs and Rachel Lovell.

The conference will take place on Saturday 7th October at Falcon Boat Club (Meadow Ln, Oxford OX4 4BJ). The day will start at 11:45 and culminate around 17:00.  

To sign up, please click HERE. Deadline for sign up is Monday 25th September.

The event will be free of charge and will include lunch. Coaches in attendance will also receive 10 CPD points. 

This is a great opportunity to get the community together and work towards common goals, particularly around our junior athletes.

Precision Fuel & Hydration Partnership Announcement

   2 July 2023    Athlete Development, Athletes

The Marathon Racing Committee are excited to announce our formal partnership with Precision Fuel & Hydration for the 2023 season. For full details, visit our Nutrition and Hydration Support page.

Junior Development Squad Camp 2023 – Expression of Interest Open

   6 April 2023    Athlete Development, Athletes

After a highly successful summer camp in 2022, the Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and British Talent are delighted to open the expression of interest (EOI) form for the 2023 edition. The camp is once again returning to Norwich Canoe Club and will be taking place from Monday 14th August to Thursday 17th August.

The camp will have 28 places available to athletes, by completing the EOI, it provides you an opportunity to be selected to attend the camp. The camp is predominantly aimed at those juniors who have engaged in JDS this winter and who are most likely not to be competing internationally for GB this year. The EOI form will close on Friday 28th April.

Fill out the Expression of Interest Form here.

Selection for the German Nationals and World Cup

   22 March 2023    Athlete Development, Athletes, International, Selection

The first assessment race of the season will be held at Elmbridge Canoe Club on the 22nd of April. This will be used for continuous assessment for the 2023 major championships and for the selection of the following events:

  • German Nationals – Rheine – 19-21st May
  • World Cup – Ruse, Bulgaria – 2nd-4th June

To be considered for selection for either of the above events, you must complete the appropriate availability form by midnight on the 18th April.

The details of the first assessment race and online entry can be found here: Assessment Race Elmbridge 22nd April

NB: Entries close at 5pm on the 19th April. There will be no entries on the day. Elmbridge Canoe Club are hosting, so any questions regarding the race need to be directed to them.

Please familiarise yourself with the Selection Policy. This is linked below. If you have any further questions about the assessment or selection process, please contact the Chair of the Selection Committee, Nanette North, here.

JDS Skills Day 4 – Sign up open now

   17 February 2023    Athlete Development, Coaching

The Marathon Racing Committee are delighted to open sign up for the final JDS Skills Day of the 2022/23 season. Joint organised and run by the MRC, Sprint Racing Committee and British Canoeing Talent Department, JDS is aimed at junior paddlers (U18) who are looking to develop their flatwater racing skills. The training days will offer paddlers the opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people and paddle in new waters. 

The fourth JDS skills day of the 2022/23 season will be a multi racing skills day at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. Paddlers will be split into smaller groups and work around 4 activity/session stations throughout the day. Each activity station will be led and delivered by a specialist coach. The stations will consist of the following:

  • Station 1 – Race day warm up routines (land based)
  • Station 2 – Starts from a bucket (K1/C1)
  • Station 3 – Three buoy turns (K1/C1)
  • Station 4 – Plan, Do, Review (K4/C4)

There will also be a lunchtime sport psychology talk focusing on motivations and finding your strengths. This will be based off the JDS booklet.

For more details on the day and how to sign up, please visit our website here.

We are also excited to offer more specific coach development workshops throughout the day led by Scott Hynds. For more information and how to sign up, please visit our coaching website page here.

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