News

News

European Championships 2024 – How to follow along

   22 July 2024    Athletes, International, Racing

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.

All racing will be live streamed via the Canoe Europe Youtube Channel.

Wednesday 24th July Schedule

14:20 BSTVL3 MenWilliam Trowler (Norwich)
14:25 BSTVL2 MenShaun Cook (Norwich)

Thursday 25th July Schedule

09:30 BSTK1 Junior Men Short Course Heat 1Joseph Enoch (Nottingham)
William Short (Elmbridge)
10:20 BSTK1 Junior Women Short Course FinalKamila Sklenarova (Norwich)
Annabel Hutchinson (Reading)
10:45 BSTK1 Senior Men Short Course Heat 1James Russell (Chelmsford)
11:30 BSTK1 Senior Men Short Course Heat 2Matthew Johnson (Chelmsford)
13:30 BSTC1 Junior MenOwen Chisholm (Richmond)
15:00 BSTK1 Junior Men Short Course Final
16:15 BSTK1 Senior Women Short Course FinalElise Montagna (Royal)
Melissa Johnson (Chelmsford)
16:40 BSTK1 Senior Men Short Course Final

Friday 26th July Schedule

07:50 BSTK1 Junior WomenKamila Sklenarova (Norwich)
Sienna Payne (Chelmsford)
11:20 BSTKL2 MenJonathan White (Exeter)
11:35 BSTKL3 MenTimothy Lodge (Wey)
William Trowler (Norwich)
13:45 BSTK1 Under 23 WomenKatie Brookes (Exeter)
16:25 BSTK1 Under 23 MenHarry Freeland (Elmbridge)

Saturday 27th July Schedule

07:15 BSTK1 Junior MenJoseph Enoch (Nottingham)
William Short (Elmbridge)
09:35 BSTK2 Junior WomenAnnabel Hutchinson (Reading) & Mollie Ball (Devizes)
Kamila Sklenarova (Norwich) & Sienna Payne (Chelmsford)
13:00 BSTK1 Senior WomenMelissa Johnson (Chelmsford)
15:10 BSTK1 Senior MenJames Russell (Chelmsford)

Sunday 28th July Schedule

07:45 BSTK2 Junior MenJoe Enoch (Nottingham) & William Short (Elmbridge)
Flynn Holt (Richmond) & Nelson Kinzler (Richmond)
11:00 BSTK2 Senior WomenKatie Brookes (Exeter) & Elise Montagna (Royal)
13:00 BSTK2 Senior MenJames Russell (Chelmsford) & Harry Freeland (Elmbridge)
Matthew Johnson (Chelmsford) & Matthew Collinge (Fowey)

We are looking forward to some exciting racing over the next few days!

World Championships & U14/U16 Development Trip Selection Information and Availability Forms

   20 July 2024    Athletes, Selection

The last selections for 2024 will be announced week commencing 12th August. There are two teams that will form part of this announcement:

  • U14/U16 Development team: selected from the age group races at the National Championships held on the 13/14th July in Reading.
  • World Championships (including Para): lead assessments to be held on the 10/11th August at Falcon Canoe Club. Information and entries can be found here: Entries

If you are seeking selection for either event, you need to complete an availability form by 22:00 on the 7th August. Forms can be found here:

  • U14/U16 Development Trip: Form
  • World Championships (including Para): Form

If you have any questions about the forms, please direct them to Kat Wilson katburbeck@yahoo.co.uk.

For more information on the selection policy and process, please refer to the selection policy: 2024 Selection Policy. If you have any further questions please direct them to the Chair of the Selection Committee, Nanette North, via email marathon.selectors@vol.paddleuk.org.uk.

National Canoe Marathon Championships 2024 – Club Points and Junior Points Trophies

   17 July 2024    National, Racing

Thank you to all competitors, clubs, volunteers and spectators who made the National Canoe Marathon Championships 2024 at Reading such a success, particularly Reading Canoe Club for hosting and organising. 

There were a number of medals not claimed at the prize giving on both days. If you made a podium position but have not collected your medal, please email our secretary here. 

At the end of Prize Giving on Sunday, there are normally two club trophies awarded: the overall club points and the junior paddlers club points. However, this year, only one set of points was read out. After a review, we have discovered that the wrong points and podium was read out for the overall club points awards. The points announced were instead those for the junior club points and the overall club points were not announced. We apologise for this mistake and any disappointment this might cause. 

Below are the correct points for both trophies. Congratulations to Wey Kayak Club for winning both the overall club points and the junior club points trophies. 

We will be in contact with clubs directly to arrange the correct plate awarding. 

National Canoe Marathon Long Course Championships 2024 – How to follow along!

   12 July 2024    National, Racing

This weekend sees Reading play host to the biggest annual canoe marathon event in the country. We are super excited to see some tight racing and who manages to claim (or reclaim!) national championship titles.

Whether you are a member of the canoe marathon community or someone who has never watched canoe marathon before, there are lots of ways you can follow along with all the action over both days of racing.

In Person and Locally

If you are local to Reading, head down The Thames Promenade (RG1 8BD) from 9am on Saturday 13th or 8:30am on Sunday 14th to catch some racing in person. There will be commentary, food stands, trade stands, starts, finishes and one of the two portages taking place in this location so lots of action to watch! Racing will typically finish around 4:30pm each day. A particular highlight will be the Mixed K2 (2-person Kayak) race on Sunday starting at 3:30pm. Check out some of the links below for further information.

Online

Throughout the weekend, the Marathon Racing Committee and Reading Canoe Club will be providing coverage via live streams, stories and posts on their social media channels, particularly their Instagram’s. Click the names above to gain access to both accounts.

There will also be live results published throughout the day via the live results tab on our website.

Further Information

Live entries can be now be viewed here.

A full timetable of events and classes can be found here.

Full details on the courses for each class can be found here.

We are super excited for a great weekend of racing!

Paddle UK are recruiting a new Independent Member of the Safety Advisory Panel

   12 July 2024    Governance, Volunteers

The Safety Advisory Panel provides guidance and advice to Paddle UK to support safety practice within all aspects of paddlesport. The panel comprises of the Director of Recreation and Development, External Safety Advisor, Safety Lead, representatives from each of the National Associations: Canoe Wales, Paddle Scotland, and the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland, RNLI representative, and four independent volunteer advisors who are appointed for their knowledge and expertise within the safety industry and or paddlesport. Occasionally, other relevant representatives are to attend where appropriate.

Paddle UK is now looking for a new independent member who will complement the existing skills within the group. For more information, visit their website here.

Spanish K4 Series 2024 Write-Up

   12 July 2024    Athlete Development, International, Racing

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.

Well done all.

Under 14 and Under 16 Selection at National Marathon Championships 2024 Announcement & Availability Forms

   3 July 2024    Athlete Development, International, Selection

Due to logistical difficulties, the Marathon Racing Committee (MRC) will be unable to send an Under 14 & Under 16 development team to the French Nationals event in 2024. However, the Selection committee recognises the importance of this opportunity to many of the young athletes and remain committed to athlete development. Therefore, the National Marathon Championships, at Reading Canoe Club on 13th and 14th July, will remain a selection event for Under 14 and Under 16 athletes. The MRC are making arrangements for the selected athletes to attend the German National Championships, or an international equivalent race in Spring 2025, in place of the French Nationals. The provisional date for the German National Championships is 9-11th May 2025.

All athletes who are racing in the Under 14 and Under 16 event categories at the 2024 National Marathon Championships who are wishing to be considered for selection must complete the below availability form by 22:00 on the 7th August.

National Canoe Marathon Championships 2024: SUP Races Information

   29 June 2024    National, Racing, SUP

Did you know we have SUP races alongside the National Canoe Marathon Championships next month in Reading??

On Saturday 13th July, SUP paddlers can compete over an 8KM course in one of four categories: Rigid Board (Women), Rigid Board (Men), Inflatable Board (Women) and Inflatable Board (Men). They will not be national title races but you will be involved in the event and have a opportunity to see some marathon racing either side of your race!

Get your entry in by the 5th July at 23:59 to avoid the late entry fee! We would love to see you there!

More information here: https://nationals.reading-canoe.org.uk/sup-race/

Marathon Racing Committee ACM 2024 Papers

   24 June 2024    ACM, Governance

The Marathon Racing Committee’s 2024 Annual Consultative Meeting will be taking place online at 8pm on Monday 8th July, as previously advertised.

As a reminder, please make sure your club has registered to vote for the ACM to ensure you are represented.

Please see below for all relevant papers for this years edition. Any questions, please direct them towards the MRC Secretary, Anoushka Freeman, here.

Change from Event Tickets to Single Event Membership – Racing Update

   24 June 2024    Governance, Organisation, Racing, Rules

There is a change to what used to be Event Tickets (ET). Temporary PaddleUK membership for an event is now available online as a Single Event Membership (SEM). Paddlers entering without either On the Water Membership or Club Associate Membership via an Affiliated Club will need to purchase SEM where they used to use an ET. This can be done while entering.

Race Organisers will need to be aware that the paper ET form should no longer be used or payments taken which will reduce their tasks. 

Team Leaders and Paddlers will need to be aware that they need to purchase SEM if they do not have other membership of PaddleUK. Team Leaders should however use Club Associate Membership if at all possible where a club paddler does not have On the Water Membership of PaddleUK. The link to Membership classes on the PaddleUK Website is https://paddleuk.org.uk/?s=membership

The system has been tested and appears to work fine, but should an issue arise, please let Mick Nadal know.

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