Category: Athletes

German Nationals 2023 Report

   1 June 2023    Athletes, International, Racing

The annual development trip to German National Marathon Championships fielded a twelve-strong team of juniors and under 23’s after successful selection from the long course assessment race in April. Consisting of seven juniors and five under 23’s, the team traveled to Rheine to take part in three days of racing two weeks ago.

After a long travel day, the team took on the short course distance on Friday evening as a warm-up to the long course events on Saturday and Sunday. Short Course marathon racing consists of a 3.2km course over small laps. In the junior boys category, the British team produced a dominant 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th finish order with Arthur Morley (Wey Kayak Club) taking the overall win. Flynn Holt (Royal Canoe Club) finished in the bronze medal position, Lukas Schleiter-Nielsen (Falcon Canoe Club) in 4th position and Alex Worgan (Royal Canoe Club) in 5th.

In the junior girls race, Chloe Ritchie (Wey Kayak Club) had a lightning start with Nerys Hall (Wey Kayak Club) and Beth Hall (Southampton Canoe Club) benefiting from her wash. A tough fight at the front of the race resulted in Nerys taking the silver medal with Beth Perry and Chloe Ritchie not far behind in 4th and 5th position respectively. Elise Montagna (Royal Canoe Club) had a consistent race in the senior women’s category to finish in 4th position. 

In the senior men’s race, a fast pace off the start line broke the race up quickly. Matthew Collinge (Fowey River Canoe Club) made the break into the front group and was able to battle it out to achieve the silver medal. Tim Dowden (Norwich Canoe Club) finished 7th, James How (Norwich Canoe Club) in 8th and Tim Gannicott-Porter (Chelmsford Canoe Club) came in 9th.

Saturday saw the turn of the long course K1 races and the results of the previous day were almost completely replicated. Racing over a 19km course, Arthur Morley took the gold medal again, with Flynn Holt replicating his short course result with another bronze medal. Lukas Schleiter-Nielsen finished in 5th and Alex Worgan secured 9th position, despite racing up an age group from under 16’s. The juniors girls also competed over a 19km course. Nerys Hall secured a hard earned silver medal, despite having issues with her boat pump, and Beth Perry secured 4th. Chloe Ritchie ended up retiring after a frustrating incident involving a post in the water. 

Elise Montagna competed over a 19km course and had a successful sprint finish to secure herself another fourth position. The senior men’s race was another packed field with a quick start. Matthew Collinge finished the 24km course in silver position again, with Tim Dowden not far off the pace securing fourth. Tim Gannicott-Porter finished in 6th and James How in 7th. 

As tradition for a canoe marathon national weekend, Sunday was the turn of the crew boat with all our athletes combining into K2’s. Yet more podium positions and medals were secured, despite a chaotic move of a race start that disrupted some of our paddlers’ later breakfast! 

In our junior races, our strength in crew boats nationally showed, with every boat entered securing a medal. Chloe Ritchie and Beth Perry won the start and continued the form to take the silver medal behind an experienced German K2. In the junior boys race, the two K2’s of Arthur and Flynn, Lukas and Alex, dominated the field and made an early break away from the rest of the boats to secure a first and second place finish order. Nerys Hall raced up to the senior race, partnering with Elise. A disappointingly small field meant that they didn’t experience the race they would have enjoyed but they still managed to earn a silver medal. In the senior men’s race, a fast paced front group of four challenged our two K2’s through some tight portages, with Matthew and Tim securing the overall victory and a gold medal. Tim and James finished in fourth.

A successful weekend of racing which enabled all athletes to put their hard winter training to the test away from home. Thank you to all volunteers who made the trip possible, especially our trip staff of Nanette, Suzanne, Charlie and Graham.

New Athlete Representative required for selection committee – Urgent!

   25 May 2023    Athletes, Governance, Selection

The MRC Selection Committee are seeking a volunteer to join as Athlete Representative. 

The athlete representative will be invited to all selection meetings, and will be able to contribute to the discussion, but is not a voting member of the selection committee.

Requirements of the athlete representative:

  • Act as an independent member of the committee (not MRC, a current athlete seeking selection or club coach).
  • They should bring with them experience of being an international athlete (where possible).
  • Know and understand the selection policy.
  • Question and challenge the process during the meetings to ensure selections are made in line with the policy

The next meeting of the selection committee will be in the days following the assessment weekend 10th/11th June, and the new athlete representative should be available to join this meeting. 

For more information and to register interest please contact Tom Sharpe by Sunday 4th June.

K1/C1 & K2/C2 Assessment Weekend June 10/11th

   22 May 2023    Athletes, Selection

This assessment weekend will have a singles long course race on the Saturday and doubles long course race on the Sunday. The assessment will be used for the following:

  • Lead assessment for the European Championships
  • The K2 assessment will be used with the Short Course Nationals as joint lead assessment for the Sanabria K4 (date now updated in the selection policy here).
  • Continuous assessment for the World Championships (although is not the lead assessment for selection to this international)

To be considered for selection for the below internationals, you must complete the availability forms by Midnight on Wednesday 7th June: 

The assessment weekend was due to take place in the Thames Valley. Unfortunately, this has not been possible due an extremely high number of regattas and fates taking place over the same weekend on this stretch of the Thames. Elmbridge have kindly offered to host again. We would like to thank them. It not only keeps the event close to the original area announced but it also an excellent venue for the assessment weekend. We would like to recognise that the K2 race clashes with Royal’s Hasler, which is unfortunate as it is in the same region. We hope that this change in location does not impact their event.

Due to a local raft race, the busy time of year on the Thames, and to reduce interclass wash hanging, the starts will be split across the day into two starts. The Saturday will see a large gap between starts to avoid the local fete raft race. The Sunday starts will be run back to back. We appreciate the timetable may not be ideal for some, however Elmbridge have taken a lot of time to consider the best way to execute a professional and fair assessment event which is reflected in the schedule they have produced. They will shortly publish the race pack and open entries to the event. When open, entries can be found on the entry site: K1/C1 Entries, K2/C2 Entries.

Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the Selection Policy: 2023 Selection Policy. If you have any further questions regarding the Selection Process, please contact the Chair of the Selectors, Nanette North on: [email protected]

Updated Team Announcement for 2023 World Cup and German Nationals

   11 May 2023    Athletes, Selection

The Marathon Selection Committee wanted to provide an update on the team attending the 2023 World Cup and German Nationals. Congratulations to the athletes on their selections to their respective teams.

Update to Marathon Selection Policy 2023

   19 April 2023    Athletes, Selection

It was brought to the attention of the Selection Committee that the mitigating circumstances policy was not inclusive of the early selections from the first assessment in 2023. Please find the updated policy with changes made to section 4.1 via the link below. 

If you have any questions on the Selection Policy for 2023, please direct them to Nettie North, Chair of the Selection Committee, here.

Selection for German Nationals and World Cup – Update

   17 April 2023    Athletes, International, Selection

This is a reminder that the first assessment race of the season is this Saturday (22nd April) at Elmbridge Canoe Club. Race details can be found here: Assessment Race Elmbridge 22nd April

Entries close on 19 Apr 2023 at 5 p.m. There will be no entries on the day.

This assessment 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, Bulgaria – 3-4th June

To be considered for selection for either of these events you must enter the assessment race AND complete the appropriate availability form by midnight on the 19th April (deadline extended by 24hrs).

Please familiarise yourself with the Selection Policy: Selection Policy 2023. If you have any further questions about the assessment or selection process, please contact the Chair of the Selection Committee, Nanette North.

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.

Update to Marathon Selection Policy 2023

   6 March 2023    Athletes, Governance, International, Selection

The selection policy has been updated for March 2023 to include confirmation of the venue of Elmbridge Canoe Club for the first assessment race on Saturday 22nd April.

Another amendment is that the MRC have had to adjust the athlete contributions in line with the current inflationary environment to enable the trips to run as scheduled. These changes can be found in sections 3.3.b and 3.3.c of the selection policy.

Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the policy. Any questions, please direct them to Nanette North, the Chair of the Selection Committee.

Division 1 K2 at Hasler Races 2023

   21 February 2023    Athletes, Governance, Racing

Based on athlete feedback, the Marathon Racing Committee are excited to announce the addition of a Division 1 K2 to a select few Hasler Races. In recent years, there has been no provision for Division 1 standard K2’s to race on a regular basis due to lack of engagement from paddlers historically. This addition will allow Division 1 ranked paddlers, as well as Division 2 ranked paddlers, to race K2’s outside of assessment and selection. This could be with a potential selection-worthy boat, supporting younger juniors to race up or to race mixed boats.

The following races have agreed to host a Division 1 K2 race during the 2023 season:

  • Nottingham Hasler – Sunday 30th April
  • Worcester Hasler – Sunday 14th May
  • Norwich Hasler – Sunday 21st May
  • Reading Circuit Hasler – Sunday 28th May
  • Falcon Hasler – Sunday 25th June
  • Richmond Hasler – Sunday 18th June

These events have been selected due to timing’s in the racing calendar, location in reference to current Division 1 paddlers and course specifics that will allow for good racing.

The MRC would strongly encourage Division 1 and Division 2 paddlers to engage with this provision.

For more details on how Division 1 K2 will work at the above Hasler’s, visit our race organisers information document below.

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