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Great Britain equalled its best-ever medal tally at the Canoe Marathon European Championships, finishing fifth on the overall medal table after a hard-fought final day of racing in Pitești, Romania.

In extreme heat, five British K2 crews took to the water across the Junior Men’s, Senior Women’s and Senior Men’s races, closing out a Championship in which the team secured a total of seven medals.

The Senior Women’s K2 race was shortened to 22.6km due to the severe heat, with the portage moved forward to the first lap. Katie Brookes (Richmond Canoe Club) and Sam Martyn (Wey Kayak Club) made an excellent start, immediately securing the Hungarian side wash and positioning them well in the leading group. Sophie Dunlop (Elmbridge Canoe Club) and Brynde Kreft (Falcon Canoe Club) were slightly slower away but worked effectively to join the lead pack of seven boats during the opening lap. 

As the pace lifted, Dunlop and Kreft were the first to lose contact with the leaders, while later in the lap the front group stretched further heading into the early portage, leaving Brookes and Martyn just off the back. A breakaway from a Hungarian crew and two Spanish boats split the race further, and Brookes and Martyn exited the portage in the second group. Behind them, a strong portage from Kreft and Dunlop brought them out alongside the Italians in pursuit.

As the race unfolded, the British crews came back together in a chase group, later collecting the Danish boat ahead of them. At the final portage, the Danes managed to edge in front, putting pressure on the British crews heading into the closing sprint. In a tight finish, Brookes and Martyn crossed the line in 6th place, just ahead of Kreft and Dunlop in 7th, separated by less than a second.

Reflecting on hers and Martyn’s race, Brookes said: “I’m really proud of what we did off the start, something to build on as well. The first portage was quite unforgiving, but we had the third fastest portage time.”

Martyn: “We’ve been building up to it all week, especially for me. Just getting on that start line and feeling like, we’ve got to give it all the beans and see what happens after that. So to look back at it and see that we were there at the start, that’s pretty cool. It was nice to have two British senior women’s races side by side.”

Dunlop said: “I had the best time in that race, I don’t have a highlight, it was the whole thing.”

There is a strong women’s training group developing in the South of England. Kreft said: “We’re all training down South, it was like a normal Sunday paddle, we see each other all the time.”

The Senior Men’s race was also reduced to 22.6km, consisting of six laps and six portages to minimise the risks posed by the heat. Both British boats, Will Short (Elmbridge Canoe Club) and Alex Worgan (Richmond Canoe Club), and Sam Cribbett (Nottingham Kayak Club) and Will Stroud (Chelmsford Canoe Club), started strongly and were in touch with the front group early on. Short and Cribbett both showed off their excellent K2 driving skills in their respective boats, constantly adjusting to the chaos of a large front group with sharp changes of speed.

Cribbett and Stroud were forced off the back after congestion and collisions caused by the leading group being taken tight to the bank approaching the top turn, but they quickly regrouped and formed a solid and threatening chase group. Short and Worgan continued to race well, picking up v-washes in the front group until a breakaway group of four at the first portage left chaos in their wake. 

Short and Worgan willed themselves back in contact with the front group, but they struggled to find a safe place to rest and eventually fell back in the field to join their teammates in a chase group of 6 boats. As the race progressed, the heat started to take its toll on the overall pace of crews across the field. Cribbett and Stroud kept up a valiant chase in the second group, picking off crews who had dropped off the leaders, steadily closing the gap and even recording the fastest lap of the race on lap four. Their efforts paid off when they rejoined the leaders before the top turn on lap five, following a determined final effort alongside the Italian crew. However, another series of sprints before the penultimate portage saw them drop behind the group again but continue to press on, never giving up the chase. The pair crossed the line in 9th after hunting down world class crews for the duration of their race.

Short and Worgan, now racing further back, continued to battle fatigue and the oppressive heat as the thermometer in Pitesti hit 35℃. Despite these challenges, they maintained their effort through to the finish, placing 14th after a photo-finish sprint with the second Hungarian crew.

Walking through his race, Cribbett said: “We knew we weren’t going to be the fastest off the start so we tried to use the Norwegian boat next to us to get to the front. Once we got there we were struggling with all the washes and I don’t think we got as comfortable as we wanted to. We battled through it for the first lap. Once we got used to the grind we started to pick it up a bit more and used the rolling waves to chase back to the front again. We tried to stay as long as possible. We’re very happy with our result.”

The crew also devised strategies for coping with the heat: “We learnt from the races that happened before ours some ways to manage the heat. We had ice in buckets, made sure our water was cool the whole way round, and made sure we had plenty of electrolytes to stop us cramping.”

Stroud said: “It was hard work catching up and staying with the front pack but I was happy with the race.”

Reflecting on his and Worgan’s K2, Short said: “We struggled in the heat a bit but the first lap was really good. It was quite positive to sit on the downhill waves on the big washes.”

Worgan said: “The first lap was really good and then I got 150m down the portage and just lost all vision. I think the sudden change in heart rate just threw me completely. But, after about lap four I got back into it. It was nice to spend some time with big names and fast boats and be comfortable with it, it didn’t feel scary. It felt like we deserved to be there.”

In the Junior Men’s K2 race, contested over 22.6km with six laps and five portages, Henry Pitt (Royal Canoe Club) and Marcell Nagy (Reading Canoe Club) were faced with a fast and aggressive start that made it difficult to maintain contact with the leading crews. However a broken paddle from the favourite Hungarian crew at the start offered Pitt and Nagy a lifeline as they made their way back up towards the front of the field, driving up the pace of the chase group in the process. Unfortunately, a dead leg for Nagy on the first portage forced Pitt to carry the boat alone over the long portage, costing them valuable time and contact with the group ahead. Despite this setback, the pair continued to push all the way to the finish, placing 13th in a gritty display of determination.

This marks one of the most successful Championships for the British team in recent years, with a fifth-place finish on the medal table and an equal-best total of seven medals achieved. The result is made even more impressive given the extreme conditions faced throughout the week.

Team leader Katie Williams said: “I am really proud of the team for managing so well in the hot conditions. Sport always comes with highs and lows, but every athlete has something positive to take away from this competition. I’d like to extend a massive thanks to the rest of my staff team and the parents and supporters who helped with transport.”

You can see the full day’s results via the Memosoft Spotfokus app, as well as the full championship medal table.

The team will return to action later this year at the World Championships in Argentina, with final selections to be confirmed following the National Championships on 11–12 July in Laleham.

Thanks to Freya Peters for her support and words within this write-up.