Registration for the European Masters Championships to be help in Portugal is now openand you can find the first bulletin for the event here.
Paddle UK need to be informed of any team members going. Information to follow on this.
Transport of Boats
The plan for the trailer taking kayaks to the European Masters Championships has been finalised.
The Trailer will be loading on the 24th May and the 25th May from Maidstone. This is a weekend to facilitate people bringing boats.
We will be returning to Maidstone on the 6th June and boat collections will be on the 7 & 8th June.
This will allow boats to be delivered at the weekend and collected likewise at the weekend after we return from Portugal.
The cost per boat will be £170.00.
As usual the cost will include the Insurance needed to cover any import / export duty for a boat not able to be returned to the UK. This does not cover the actual boat, and paddlers are reminded that you can organise your own Boat Insurance through your Household Insurance or through Paddle UK Deal.
Team Kit
Joe Fitzpatrick, MRC Kit Lead, is ordering the new Paddle UK kit. If you still have the Team GB kit, we used last year this will still be valid for the European Championships. We will provide an update soon on the new kit if you wish to update.
Bryn, the MRC Masters Lead, will have a couple of Podium Jackets that will need to be worn when you get on the podium.
K2 Races
As usual, we hope to field a strong team in both the K1 and K2 events. If you have not yet found a K2 partner, please use the Masters WhatsApp group to try to link up with a paddler in an age group the same as or near your age group. Access can be achieved by emailing the MRC Masters Lead here.
The Marathon Racing Committee are seeking volunteer staff to support the GB team at its international races this year.
It’s a fun, rewarding but tiring few days travelling with our best athletes, helping them achieve their best possible results. 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 will be led by an experienced manager so new staff will be well supported and all forms of experience are welcome to volunteer. All expenses are paid, and team kit is provided.
We are looking for support staff for the following international trips in the 2025 season:
German National Marathon Championships – Kassel – 16-18th May
European Marathon Championships – Ponte-de-Lima, Portugal – 2nd-8th June
World Marathon Championships – Gyor, Hungary – 1st-7th September
French National Marathon Championships – Vernon – 27th-28th September
Travel will be around the advertised dates of the championships.
2025 will see three great international races that we hope to have GB Masters competing in.
The Waterlands International race, 12th April, in Holland is a challenging marathon on canals and a lake. The windy conditions make this a true test of stability and stamina. Entries are now open and there may be places on the Paddle UK trailer or car share with other paddlers.
European Masters Championships will be on the 2nd & 3rd June in Portugal. Provided there is enough interest, we will be taking the Masters trailer.
World Masters Championships will be in Hungary on the 2nd & 3rd September. We will be taking the Masters trailer to this great event.
To help with planning and coordination please let the Masters lead, Bryn Price, know if you want to join the team for any of these events via his email here.
The Marathon Racing Committee are seeking a willing volunteer to support them in the co-ordination, organisation and bookings for International Trips. This is an urgent role that needs filling ASAP to ensure 2025 internationals happen. We welcome enquires from anyone but especially someone with experience within the travel industry. There will be suitable guidance and support from experienced volunteers.
The role involves:
Identify and book suitable flights and accommodation following input from the Chair of Selectors regarding team size, construction and is within budget. For 2025 this will include the German National Marathon Championships in May, European Marathon Championships in June, World Marathon Championships in September and the French National Marathon Championships also in September. Plus possibly the World Games in August.
Liaise with MRC treasurer and internal logistics admin re hotels, ferries and flights.
Liaise with ICF/ECA race organisers re transport to and from the airport and also the hotel.
Liaise with both the French and German Nationals race organisers re our juniors competing.
Liaise between staff and PUK transport department re collections and return of the minibuses and trailer. This will include raising the Carnet with HMRC in good time following input from international logistics admin and sending to the team drivers.
Please contact the MRC Secretary here if interested.
The MRC Selection Committee are seeking expressions of interest from members of the canoeing community who would be like to become part of the selection panel for Great Britain marathon canoeing.
We are seeking people who have a sound understanding of marathon canoeing in the UK and an awareness of the processes involved for athletes seeking International Selection. We are particularly looking for individuals who demonstrate integrity, impartiality and good communication skills to join our committee.
All interested parties should apply by email with a supporting statement (approximately 500 words) to the Chair of the Marathon Selection Committee, Nanette North, by Wednesday 6th November.
The final international of the 2024 season is here and it is going to be a busy week of racing in Metkovic, Croatia. Our Masters racing team kick off the event tomorrow morning with the K1/C1 races, followed by the K2/C2 races on Tuesday. You can follow along via the live results page here. There does not seem to be a live stream for this part of the event.
The team of junior, senior, under 23 and para athletes will start competing on Wednesday afternoon with Shaun Cook’s VL2 race and conclude on the Sunday afternoon with the Senior Men’s K2 race. Last time we competed in Metkovic was the 2018 European Championships where we came away with four medal (1 gold and 3 bronzes). Those who competed will remember the hot and bumpy racing conditions, which will make for some more challenging races this year. Good luck to all! We will be cheering you on every paddle stroke of the way!
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 throughout the event.
Tomorrow will see the debut of marathon races at the FISU World University Championship Canoe Sports. Hosted by Montemor-O-Velho, the 2024 edition has been running since Wednesday with the Canoe Sprint races but Marathon will debut tomorrow with four races. Two of which will have British representation.
At 14:40 tomorrow, Freya Peters (Richmond) and Katie Brookes (Exeter) will race in the K1 Women race over a 4 laps, 2 portages course. Matthew Collinge (Fowey) and Tim Dowden (Norwich) will race in the K1 Men race at 16:30 over a 5 laps, 3 portages course.
You can cheer them via the FISU official live stream here and live results can be found here.
Are you a University student or about to be a University student? Do you want to keep paddling at your local flatwater racing club? Visit our guide here to find the closest club and key contacts for you.
It is European Championships week and the team of junior, senior, under 23, para and even masters paddlers will be competing across all days this week in Poznan, Poland. Masters racing kicked off today with the K1 races and tomorrow will be the turn of the K2 races. The main European Championship races will start from Wednesday 24th July, with some of the para classes, and run until Sunday 28th July.
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.
Thank you to Paul Dimmock for providing this write-up and for being Team Manager on the trip.
K4 racing in Spain is second to none with some 70 K4’s racing in the Spanish Federations annual Regional, National and International K4 5km races. Great Britain had two relatively young crews competing in the K4 International events involving a Saturday race in Sanabria and a Sunday race in Valladolid. We certainly fielded the youngest boats in both the women’s and men’s fields, and the racing was both exciting and a huge learning opportunity of K4 racing against some of the best paddlers in the world; an experience which will assist all the athletes in their athletic careers.
The Senior Men K4 Crew were: William Stroud (Chelmsford Canoe Club), Sam Cribbett (Nottingham Kayak Club), Finn Cadell (Nottingham Kayak Club), Gabriel Popham-Coveley (Falcon Canoe Club).
The Senior Women K4 Crew were: Nerys Hall (Wey Kayak Club), Freya Peters (Richmond Canoe Club), Jessie Urquhart (Nottingham Kayak Club), Matilda Enoch (Nottingham Kayak Club).
The Spanish hospitality, like the weather, was very warm and the Federation could not have been anymore supportive, not just to us but the Czechia, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Germany, and Denmark. The international line up, including of course the hosts Spain, assured our athletes some fast and furious racing. As Sam Cribbett, who stroked the Senior Men K4, found out when lining up against multiple World Championship medallist Adrian Boros stroking the Hungarian K4, racing Internationally in K4 is not for the faint-hearted and Sam rose to the challenge. Technical problems besieged the men’s boat, but they pushed on with great heart to beat the Danish.
The girls experimented with different combinations for the two races. Jessie stroked at the first race and Freya at the second, both combinations were equally strong. On Sunday, the women unfortunately had rudder issues after the 2nd turn and were robbed of the result they deserved but like the our men’s crew pulled hard in the second half of the race and managed to keep the German crew behind them.
For Great Britain, the results didn’t reflect the team spirit or the tenacity each paddler put into the two races. I’m confident that we will see more of these eight athletes as they grow their athletic careers and develop into world class paddlers in their own right. There’s no better way for Marathon Racing Committee to achieve its objective of developing athletes in international racing than through crew boat racing on this scale. It is through our engagement in racing, athletes will grow in their personal ability, learn the subtle complexity of crew boat racing and ensure the love of racing is the essential ingredient of long-term success.
The Spanish Federation facilitated superb racing and were the perfect hosts and should be congratulated for ensuring all the National Teams were part of a K4 racing spectacular.
Final word for the athletes Finn, Gabriel, Sam, Will, Freya, Matilda, Nerys and Jessie, who all are relatively new to senior racing, showed great potential and all conducted themselves with maturity way beyond their years.
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