Category: International

World Cup 2023 – How to watch

   2 June 2023    International, Racing

The 2023 Canoe Marathon World Cup team have successfully arrived in Bulgaria to compete this weekend. Our team of athletes will be racing at the following times over the two days:

  • Saturday 3rd June at 10am BST – Senior Women K1 Short Course Final
  • Saturday 3rd June at 10:30am BST – Senior Men K1 Short Course Final
  • Sunday 4th June at 08:40am BST – Senior Women K1 Standard Distance Final
  • Sunday 4th June at 12pm BST – Senior Men K1 Standard Distance Final

Start lists and live results for all events can be found here. Any live updates from our British team will be shared via our social media platforms.

All racing will be live streamed via the PlanetCanoe Recast Channel. To find out more about Recast and how to set-up your account, visit our “How to watch Canoe Marathon” page here. Click the links below for the relevant live stream for each race.

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.

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.

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.

Marathon Selection Policy 2023

   25 January 2023    Athletes, Governance, International, Selection

The Marathon Selection Committee are excited to announce the 2023 selection policy is now live on the international selection website page on the Marathon Racing Committee website.

Any questions on the policy should be directed to the chair of selection committee, Nanette North, via her email here.

British Canoeing Competition Hardship Fund

   21 January 2023    Athletes, Governance, International, Selection

British Canoeing has created a hardship grant for eligible English athletes who are having financial difficulties, or whose family circumstances mean they are at a disadvantage relative to their peers. The grant can be used towards athlete contributions to international competition, travel and accommodation for competition and entry and accreditation fees.

For full details on the grant and the full policy, visit the British Canoeing article here.

2023 UK Anti-Doping Prohibited List

   5 January 2023    Athletes, Coaching, Governance, International, National, Racing, Rules

Check the Prohibited List ? – Not knowing is not enough.

The 2023 Prohibited List is available to read now and comes into effect on 1 January. Read about the Prohibited List over on UK Anti-Doping‘s website below.

Support Staff Wanted for 2023 International Marathon Races – Call to Action!

   4 January 2023    International, Volunteers

The Marathon Racing Committee are seeking volunteer staff to support the GB team at its international races this year.

It’s a fun and rewarding but tiring few days travelling with our best athletes, helping them achieve their best possible result. You will be an integral part of the team and help out in a variety of ways potentially including driving, general organising, drinks changes at portages, emotional support, and safeguarding. Teams are led by an experienced manager so new staff are well supported and all forms of experience are welcome to volunteer. All expenses are paid, and team kit provided.

We are looking for support staff for the following international trips in the 2023 season:

  • German National Marathon Championships – Rheine, Germany – 19th-21st May
  • Marathon World Cup – Ruse, Bulgaria – 2nd-4th June
  • European Marathon Championships – Slavonski Brod, Croatia – 13th-16th July
  • World Marathon Championships – Koldingvej, Vejen, Denmark – 31st August – 3rd September
  • French National Marathon Championships – Decizes, France – 23rd-24th September

Please find further details below:

Masters World Cup 2022

   6 November 2022    International, Masters, Racing
Kristin Queeney and Catherine Ayling on the podium after winning bronze in their K2 race

The Great Britain Masters team had 32 Paddlers competing in the Masters World Cup in Portugal in September. This was a huge increase in the 4 who competed in the Masters World Cup 2021 held in Romania and the European Cup held in Denmark back in July.

The team that headed out to Portugal had a hard act to follow after the 2021 team won a gold and a silver medal and the recent European Cup team all managed to get onto the podium in their respective age group races. These set the scene for Portugal, with our team’s reputation running high. 

The masters events always start with the single boats racing on Monday and Brian Greenway paved the way by showing that his many years of racing still counts as he took the Gold medal in the Men’s K1 70+  race. 

Following on, we had paddlers in most of the other age group races with many of our paddlers competing in their first World Masters. Unlike 2021, the fields were huge, often using more than the start pontoon’s 20 places. The men’s team earned many top 10 places, including Edgar Boehm getting a 9th place in a highly competitive over 45 K1 men’s race and Robert Scholes and Antony Nolan achieved 5th and 6th respectively in the over 75 K1 men’s race.

The women’s team were not to be outdone and showed how this team has grown in size and confidence. Jane Millar took 4th in the over 65 women’s K1 and Sue Hawthorn earned 5th in the over 55 women’s K1.

Tuesday was the turn of the double crew boats and the British medals continued to come. Our over 75 Men’s K2 team of Keith Durham and Paul Newman won an unopposed Gold.  Not to be outdone, Brian Greenway dropped down an age-group to paddle into a medal winning position with Simon Davies. The Kristin Queeney and Catherine Ayling completed a bronze medal winning performance in the over 55 women K2.

Some of the members of the Masters World Cup team

To conclude the programme of events, some of our paddlers took to the water for their 3rd race in 2 days to compete in the mixed K2. Unlike in previous years, the mixed K2 was merged into only 2 age-group based races. In the over 50 mixed K2, Chris Sze and Catherine Ayling achieved 10th with Micheal Hawthorn and Sue Hawthorn finishing close behind in 11th. It is worth noting that if the mixed K2 had be seperated out into the previous age categories like at last years world cup, Chris Sze and Catherine Ayling would have had 3rd place in the over 55 and Bryn Price and Jane Millar would have had a 2nd place in the over 65.

After racing team dinner

The full results for the masters team are as follows:

  • Men K1 Over 65 – Dave Marshal 9th Julian Gilbert 12th, Gordon Bullock 16th, Andy Nevins 20th, Kenneth Fraser 21st and Bryn Price 22nd.
  • Mens K1 Over 70 – Brian Greenham 1st, James Parker 7th, Micheal Hawthorn 11th, Ian Bainbridge 12th.
  • Mens K1 Over 75 – Robert Scholes 5th, Antony Nolan 6th
  • Women K1 Over 65 – Jane Miller 4th
  • Mens K1 Over 35 – Juan Caruncho-Abellanas 24th
  • Mens K1 Over 55 – Donald Gardner 21st, Calum Urquhart 22nd
  • Mens K1 Over 45 – Edgar Boehm 9th
  • Mens K1 Over 60 – Chris Sze 24th
  • Women K1 Over 55 – Sue Hawthorn 5th, Catherine Ayling 7th Kirsten Queeney 10th
  • Mens K2 Over 65 – Brian Greenway and Simon Davies 2nd, Bryn Price and Micheal Wibrew 6th, Andy Nevit and Julian Gilbert 7th,  Ian Bainbridge and David Walsh  10th
  • Mens K2 Over 75 – Keith Durham and Paul Newman 1st
  • Mens K2 Over 35 – Edgar Boehm and Juan Caruncho-Cardozo 5th
  • Mens K2 Over 50 – Edward Martin and Nick Gardner 12th
  • Mens K2 Over 60 – Chris Sze and Gordon Bullock 6th
  • Women’s K2 Over 55 – Kirsten Queeney and Catherine Ayling 3rd
  • Mixed K2 Over 50 – Chris Sze and Catherine Ayling 10th, Micheal Hawthorn and Sue Hawthorn 11th, Gordon Bullock and Kirsten Queeney 15th, Bryn Price and Jane Miller 16th.

Thank to Bryn Price for his support creating this write-up.

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