Worcester Canoe Club are now making their final preparations for the 2023 Hasler Finals taking place on Sunday 24th September. The final countdown is on!
You only have two more days to get your entries in with the closing date being this Saturday. You can find the full details of the event and enter here. Make sure you don’t miss out.
Reminder, you need to have qualified to race. Check the full details in the racing rules here. The qualifying clubs for each region are below. Who will take the overall win next weekend? Will Elmbridge Canoe Club retain their title or will another club be successful?
The winning club for the 2023 Geoff Sanders Competition will also be announced at this event.
Our 2023 World Championships team has successfully arrived in Denmark ahead of racing starting tomorrow. Our paracanoe athletes will be first on the water on Wednesday afternoon while the rest of the team competes over the remaining four days, finishing on Sunday 3rd September.
Start lists and live results for the para events can be found here, whereas all over 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. For full information on how to use Recast, visit our watch canoe marathon page. Recast is currently offering a 7-day pass for 450 credits, which will give viewers unlimited access to all PlanetCanoe streams for the next 7-days. Visit the main channel page for further details on how to access it.
Following on from British Canoeing’s inaugural GB-ONE conference in March this year, they are going to be delivering a GB-ONE conference centred around junior development. Our Marathon Coach Development Lead, Scott Hynds, has been working with British Canoeing to design this event and it is also being supported by our Junior Development Leads, Holly Mobbs and Rachel Lovell.
The conference will take place on Saturday 7th October at Falcon Boat Club (Meadow Ln, Oxford OX4 4BJ). The day will start at 11:45 and culminate around 17:00.
To sign up, please click HERE. Deadline for sign up is Monday 25th September.
The event will be free of charge and will include lunch. Coaches in attendance will also receive 10 CPD points.
This is a great opportunity to get the community together and work towards common goals, particularly around our junior athletes.
The 2023 National Canoe Marathon Championships were hosted by Norwich Canoe Club three weeks ago, with some sunshine, lots of wind and rain greeting paddlers from across the country who competed for the canoe marathon national titles.
Race briefing number one of the day
Ever an exceptional host, Norwich Canoe Club ran a professional looking event with their event branding and sponsors evident throughout the main site area, as well as being incredibly adaptable with the rainy conditions.
Day one saw some tight racing as athletes navigated around the course on the tidal River Yare, with over 47 clubs being represented on the water. The tidal river added an extra element into the racing. As the tide came in later on in the day, what was a pontoon portage in the morning submerged and became a beach style portage for the afternoon races. Racers had to learn to read the river successfully to ensure that they were maximising the direction of the flow and not trying to paddle against it. Additional challenges included the course being covered by weeds which saw some extra decorations to boats.
Kamila Sklenarova (Norwich Canoe Club) demonstrating the weed decorations on her boat.
The National Championships are also serving as a crucial assessment event as athletes battle it out in the hopes of securing their ticket to the upcoming 2023 Canoe Marathon World Championships in Vejen, Denmark as well as for junior development athletes wanting to achieve selection to the French Nationals trip in the later part of September. Both teams have now been announced and can be found by clicking the event names above.
Senior K1 Races
James Russell (Chelmsford Canoe Club) was crowned canoe marathon National Champion in the Senior Men’s race for the second year in a row. After a flying start the Chelmsford paddler joined forces with Charlie Smith (Nottingham Kayak Club) in a huge effort that saw the two boats go clear from the rest of the field early in the race.
Completing one long lap, and two short laps, along with five portages, the duo created a huge lead which secured them the top two positions. It was decided with a sprint finish that saw Russell claim gold. He completed the 24km course with a time of 01:49:22.
James secured this national title, coming off the back of competing at the Canoe Marathon European Championships last weekend in extremely hot weather. There he took fourth in the Senior Men K1 Short Course event, heartbreakingly close to the medals.
Reflecting on his race, James said, “It was good…I knew it would be crucial after the first portage because it was only 2-3k into the race so I just positioned myself in the group to ensure I could cover any moves if it did happen or exploit any mistakes and that’s what happened in the end. [I] got to the other side of the portage and it was clear there was going to be a break so I just dropped the hammer down and pushed on for twenty minutes… and that was probably the biggest point in the race.”
“European Championships [was] last weekend. Short Course went really well. It wasn’t ideal starting on the less favourable side of the course but I made it work. Fourth place was pretty strong for me. Long Course was less good. I think I positioned myself well and did everything right leading up to it but it was just too hot for me. Mid-thirties nearly forty degrees….Hopefully I have done enough to be selected for Denmark. Little bit cooler there, which is good, I think it will suit me [and] I can have another crack at it.”
Charlie was back in action after some time away from racing, and proved his marathon talent once again by crossing the line a second after Russell. Smith claimed the silver national medal completing the course with a time of 01:49:23.
Matthew Johnson (Chelmsford Canoe Club) was joined in a chase pack by Finn Cadell (Nottingham Kayak Club), Joe Petersen (Banbury & District Canoe Club) and Albert Hicks (Norwich Canoe Club). Johnson was third across the line claiming bronze with a time of 01:53:00 after a head-to-head sprint to the line.
Russell & Smith at the finishJohnson, Peterson, Cadell & Hicks portagingSenior Men K1 start with Smith leadingBoehm, Fitzpatrick, Poole & Rix heading into the portageHicks leading Peterson and Cadell through the portage
There was sibling success from the Johnson family as Melissa Johnson (Chelmsford Canoe Club) was crowned National Champion in the Senior Women’s Race.
The senior women were joined on the start line by the U23 women for a combined start due to numbers in their race. Something for us on the Marathon Racing Committee to work on with the community…
A fast paced start saw Melissa caught in the washes while fellow competitor, Fay Lamph (Wey Kayak Club, taking a lead but digging deep through the first long lap saw her power back through the field to reach Fay.
The pair continued to endeavour around the 24km course alongside the race leaders in the U23 women’s race (see report below). The senior duo broke away in the final lap and it was a sprint finish that decided it, with gold going to Johnson and silver to Lamph. Lamph recently competed at the European Championships, taking 7th in the long course distance.
Johnson completed the course with a time of 02:07:12 and Lamph followed closely with a time of 02:07:14. Chelmsford’s Leah Falltrick was third across the line in the senior women’s after a dedicated performance that saw her finish with a time of 02:29:39.
After her race, Melissa said, “Really happy I got the win. It’s been really tight all season between me and Fay so quite glad I finally managed to get the win. Started off with a rocky start but had to make my way back through the field… I had a strong first portage,[and it] broke down to a group of five, which was tough but it was a good group… Got caught out by a couple of the [junior] boys coming round the top turn by the portage but made that into my little advantage. Got away with just me and Fay and we then just worked together for the rest of the race. [It] came down to a lovely sprint finish.”
“[The] seasons been going really well this year. I moved up to Nottingham last year so I’ve had a strong training group up there, being coached by my brother. I had a great World Cup winning a bronze, which was very unexpected but very happy to get that, which has increased my confidence the whole way through the season.”
Johnson & Lamph at the finishJohnson leading the portage runSenior Women’s K1 startSenior Women’s K1 start with Lamph leading
U23 K1 Races
In the U23 Men’s class, it was Norwich’s Luke Shaw who claimed the National title. Competing on home waters, Luke got away strong after a tense battle for water in the first few strokes with fellow Norwich paddler Tim Dowden. A group quickly formed after the line with Chemsford’s Alex McIntyre, and fellow Norwich paddlers Daniel Sklenar, Shaw and Dowden.
Shaw demonstrated great skill throughout the five portages of this 24 km race and proved he was the fastest U23 Men’s boat, crossing the line to claim gold with a time of 01:52:56. McIntyre was following close behind to secure the silver medal with a time of 01:53:03 and Dowden made it two Norwich boats on the podium at their home National Championships finishing with a time of 01:54:43.
U23 Mens K1 StartU23 Mens K1 StartU23 Mens K1 StartU23 Mens K1 StartU23 Mens K1 Start
The U23 Women completed the same 24km course with Sam Martyn (Wey Kayak Club) being crowned National Champion.
Martyn completes a back to back racing weekend after competing at the canoe marathon European Championships last weekend. The Wey paddler completed the course with a time of 02:09:48, one minute ahead of the rest of the field. She tried to stay with the senior women pair of Lamph and Johnson but dropped off just before the second portage.
Freya Peters (Richmond) had a strong performance that saw her claim silver with a time of 02:09:44 after managing to stay with Sam for the first full lap. The national bronze went to Nottingham’s Jessie Urquhart. She completed the course in 02:13:20.
Peters at the finishMartyn taking the winUrquhart running through the portage with Brookes (Exeter)Peters & Martyn running through the portage
Paracanoe Races
Paracanoe returned for a second year at the Canoe Marathon Nationals with athletes hoping to get selected to compete at the Paracanoe demonstration races at the Canoe Marathon World Championships later this year. With more entries than the previous year, particularly in the Kayak categories, it looked to be a much more competitive category.
All the Para categories joined on the start line for a combined start.
Tim Lodge (Wey) was the first boat across the finish line, competing in the KL3 class, after taking gold in the same class at last years World Championship Exhibition Event. He completed the 13km course with a time of 01:11:02, with Charlie Knowlden (Royal Leamington Spa) claiming second in the KL3 at his very first national championships. He completed the course in 01:14:37. Jeff Vincent (Norwich Canoe Club) took third.
After his race, Tim reflected on para-racing in canoe marathon and said, “It was great. Really enjoyed it. There was more paddlers this time round than last year. A couple more people getting involved, which is fantastic as we really want to grow the sport. It was a good race. Spent most of it round with Jon [White] and Charlie [Knowlden], one of the new guys.”
“It’s great because I trained at 200m for probably about nine years and I was part of the set-up at Holme Pierrepont [British Canoeing National Base], which was… a fantastic opportunity. But away from that environment, the training for 200 is quite isolated. Not many of the clubs do specific 200m training so from my perspective of wanting to carry on canoeing, because I love canoeing, it’s a really good opportunity to be involved with club training sessions. We are on the water at six thirty every morning. There’s groups of between five and ten of us out every day training for an hour… and we come to wonderful events like this which are really relaxed and friendly and it was the same in Portugal and hopefully it will be the same in Denmark. We have this year and next year and then hopefully the ICF [International Canoe Federation] will make a change and make it an official World Championships for the first year in 2025.”
Competing in the Para KL2 class Jonathan White (Exeter) completed the course in a time of 01:11:23, just being beaten by Tim Lodge in the sprint finish but taking the win in his category.
Jen Warren (Royal Leamington Spa) was leading the way for women in marathon paracanoe as the first female para-athlete to compete at the National Championships. Competing in the Para KL3 race she came third with a time of 01:23:52 but took the women’s title for the first time. Reflecting on Para-racing in canoe marathon, she said, “Pretty tough conditions and it’s tough being the only woman and trying to make your own race but I’m just so overwhelmed at the opportunity to race at this kind of event because I saw last year that they had included a para wave in the Nationals so I’ve been training in the background and I felt ‘wow’ I’ve actually got a purpose. I’m just going to come and set a bench mark and… to be honest, I didn’t do as well as I wanted to but it’s one of those things. Now I’ve set a mark, if there’s no-one to race next year, then I can just try and beat that mark. I so hope that I have someone to race next year. I hope that people see this… and feel inspired to come and join me. It would be so awesome to have some more women. You don’t need to be the finished article or a paralympic athlete standard.”
Shaun Cook (Norwich Canoe Club) took the Para VL2 for the second year in a row with a time of 01:19:47.
Cook & Warren on the start lineParacanoe start lineLodge & Knowden on the start lineVincent, Cook & Warren on the start line.
Junior K1 & C1 Races
The U18 K1 athletes completed a 19km course on the River Yare. In both the Junior Boys and Junior Girls races, it was competitive throughout with at least four boats actively fighting for podium positions and therefore, any mistakes had the potential to be pivotal. The Juniors Boys race was decided in the final sprint to the line with Joe Enoch of Nottingham Kayak Club claiming the national champion title with a time of 01:26:10, Arthur Morley (Wey Kayak Club) taking silver and Sam Cribbett (Royal Leamington Spa Canoe Club) taking third. In the Girls U18 race, it was Isla Bethune (Elmbridge Canoe Club) who secured gold with a time of 01:33:04, with Sienna Payne (Chelmsford Canoe Club) taking second and Matilda Enoch (Nottingham Kayak Club) taking third.
In the U18 Junior Men’s Canoe race, it was a Richmond 1, 2, 3 with Owen Chisholm was crowned national champion after completing the 6.5km course in a time of 00:33:01, Areg Sarkisyan in a close second place and Andrew Elliot in third. All three Richmond boys still have a number of years left within the junior category.
William Short (Elmbridge Canoe Club) was the U16 Junior Boys’s champion. The U16’s completed a 13km course, where the Elmbridge paddler crossed the finish line with a time of 01:01:26. Toby Bullock (Exeter Canoe Club) took second and Oliver Mazur (Reading Canoe Club) finished in third in his first year within the under sixteen category. In the U16 Junior Girls race, Kamila Sklenarova of Norwich Canoe Club claimed gold with a time of 01:09:42 after a dominating performance, with Dianora De Bilio (Royal Canoe Club) taking second (even though she is still within the under fourteen category!), and Frankie Scrivener (Falcon Canoe Club) taking third.
Racing over 6.5km, Freddie Heard (Exeter Canoe Club) claimed the U14 Junior Boys win with a time of 00:29:43 and the U14 Junior Girls national title went to Dianora De Bilio (Royal Canoe Club) with a time of 00:34:34.
Short after winning the U16 Boy’s K1Shephard after winning the U12 Girl’s K1 for the second year in a rowEnoch leading Cribbett and Morley into the portageU14 Girls K1 StartU18 C1 StartU18 Boy’s K1 startU16 Boy’s K1 StartU16 Girl’s K1 Start
The U12 Junior Boy’s winner was Jack Wade (Reading Canoe Club) with a time of 00:38:11. The Girl’s champion Ruth Shephard (Reading Canoe Club) finished with a time of 00:35:59 in her second year taking the title.
The U10 races took place on the Great Broad with the paddlers completing a 3.5km course. In the Junior Boy’s, it was Marcell Barat-Farkas (Elmbridge Canoe Club) who came out on top completing the course with a time of 00:21:57. In the Junior Girl’s Adriana De Bilio (Royal Canoe Club) took the win with a time of 00:23:58.
In the evening, the under 13 paddler’s took in the water in rocket K4’s for a fun but rather rainy competition, cheered on by parents, coaches and friends. Thank you to Tim Scott for organising the fun event!
Some of the Rocket K4’s competing on the lake in the evening
Masters K1 Races
There were plenty of medals to be won in the masters classes too. Athletes in the O34 and O39 Men’s races took on an 18 km course on the River Yare. It consisted of three laps and five portages. The O34 and O39 women took on a 13km course alongside the O44 and O49 races classes. Their race consisted of two laps and three portages. The remaining race classes competed over 6.5km, completing one lap of the course.
A summary of the podium places for each class is below.
Enoch leading Boehm and Mayer through the portageLovell and Bates running through the portageVallance and Chapham heading into the portageO54 Men K1 StartO59 Men K1 StartO54 Women K1 StartO59 Women K1 StartWalsh leading the O34 Men K1 Start
Day 2 of the 2023 Canoe Marathon National Championships hosted by Norwich Canoe Club saw the turn of the K2 crew boat races.
After some action based racing in the K1 and C1 races on day 1, the second day of racing was looking to be highly competitive too with further World Championships spots up for grabs as well as the important National Championship titles. The highly anticipated Mixed K2 rounded off the weekend with roughly 60 boats on one start line.
Senior K2 Races
The Senior Men’s K2 field was as a competitive as ever with fourteen boats lining up on the start line to compete over the 24km course with five portages. A competitive first few kilometres saw an intense run into the first portage with a big group of boats. A break away pair broke away consisting of Daniel Johnson (Chelmsford Canoe Club) & Tom Lusty (Solihull Canoe Club), and Matthew Johnson (Chelmsford Canoe Club) & Alex McIntrye (Chelmsford Canoe Club). They managed to open up a big gap of as they headed towards their second portage and the gap remained.
The Chelmsford and Solihull team came out victorious, completing the course with a time of 1:43:59 earning their national title. Matt Johnson and Alex McIntyre were close behind as they crossed the line with a time of 1:44:05. The pair added the silver medal to the individual medals they both secured on Saturday.
Keith Moule and Will Stroud (both from Chelmsford Canoe Club) stormed the final portage in an endeavour to catch the leading two boats. The Chelmsford crew were third across the line to claim bronze with a time of 1:47:27.
Speaking after their win, Dan and Tom said, “It was really good. Pretty big field today. Probably one of the best Men’s K2 fields that we’ve had on a start line in Britain for a long time so it was really good to make a break and get to the front with the other boat and hold them off in the end to take the win. Really happy with that.”
“We set the K2 1000 record at Nottingham a few months ago, one that was a set quite a long time there. and we’ve had two good World Cups [Sprint] and hopefully we’ll carry that on at Duisburg this summer and hopefully get one of the 1000 team qualified for the games in Paris next year.”
Stroud & Moule running through the portageJohnson & McIntrye leading Johnson & Lusty through the portageSenior Men K2 StartSenior Men K2 Start
In the Senior Women’s K2, it was a dominant performance from Fay Lamph and Greta Roeser (Wey Kayak Club) that saw they take the national title with a two minute lead ahead of the next crew.
Both athletes were coming away from back to back racing weekends, after competing at the Canoe Marathon European Championships last weekend. After their European success with Greta claiming a gold and two silver medals and a top five finish for Fay on the European stage, they added a home soil National title to the haul. They secured gold with a time of 2:02:56.
Lucy Guest (Nottingham Kayak Club) teamed up with Freya Peters (Richmond Canoe Club) to take home the silver National medal, completing the course in a time of 2:03:53. It was the sister duo of Olivia Geddes (Falcon Canoe Club) and Libby Geddes (Cardiff Bay Kayakers) who crossed the finish line in third, with a time of 2:17:19.
Speaking after their win, Fay and Greta said, “It was good thank you. I enjoyed it. It was quite tough out there and the wind on the way back down, it was quite a headwind, which is always challenging. It felt like a long race but we were pleased to get away at the portage and just plowed on. It was fun.”
“We sort of decided to train through [the week after European Championships] so recovery has been non-existent but I think you have kind of do that as you can’t constantly be resting up for races. I think it was tough out in Croatia with the heat but everyone had that. We then had a lot of early morning and journeys. There’s always something to challenge us and that’s why we like marathon racing!”
Lamph & Roeser at the finishPeters & Guest at the finishSenior Women’s K2 StartSenior Women’s K2 Start
The highly anticipated Mixed K2 race rounding off the weekend with a bang. The start line saw 60 crew boats lining up to compete around the 13km course consisting of sibling pairings, parent and child pairings, junior and senior pairings and more. It was an action packed start with a couple of collisions and two crews ending up swimming – not too bad this year! The Mixed K2 race really shows the spirit of the canoe marathon community.
It was a tight finish between the top three as they powered toward the line together for the sprint finish.
James Russell (Chelmsford Canoe Club) added another national title to his Senior Men’s K1 from Saturday. This time teaming up with Mags Dilai (Nottingham Kayak Club) to complete the course with a time of 00:58:59. Matt Johnson (Chelmsford Canoe Club) took to the water again and teamed up with sister Melissa Johnson (Chelmsford Canoe Club) to take silver. They finished with a time of 00:59:00.
After securing gold in the Senior Women’s K2, Fay Lamph (Wey Kayak Club) teamed up with Senior Men’s K2 bronze medallist Keith Moule (Chelmsford Canoe Club) for the Mixed K2 race. They were the third boat across the line, finishing with a time of 00:59:01.
After their win, James and Mags said, “It feels pretty good. I think we’ve had three silvers [before]. The first one in 2017 so it’s been quite a few years now so quite a drilled crew and done quite a few sessions together. I had to get a super-sub in last year, Emma [Russell, James sister], took the win…so it was really good to win again with Mags after so many seconds.”
“I didn’t know whether I would even be able to make it round the race so to even finish good and then taking the win was even better. We never get a good start. Stressful. We started on the second line this time so it was a little bit hard work getting to the front and then I think we had a little bit of a disaster on the second portage and we had to do an almighty catch-up. Then we got back to the front and managed to regain control of the race.”
Mixed K2 StartMixed K2 StartMixed K2 StartMixed K2 StartRitchie & Saunders, Rees-Clark & Enoch and Bunyon & Falltrick racing into the portageSprint finish for the Mixed K2 Podium positionsRussell celebrates as him and Dilai take the win in the Mixed K2
Junior K2 Races
In the U18 Junior Boy’s K2, it was the young Elmbridge Canoe Club crew of William Short and James Ross who claimed the national championship title. They completed the 19km course with a time of 01:20:58. This result is even more impressive considering that both boys are still under sixteen. It was an incredibly tense finish for second, third and fourth, with Ivan Barritt (Gloucester Canoe Club) and Sam Cribbett (Royal Leamington Spa Canoe Club) taking silver. Joe Enoch and Huw Singleton (both Nottingham Kayak Club) took third.
In the U18 Girls, it was Matilda Enoch (Nottingham Kayak Club) and Isla Bethune (Elmbridge Canoe Club) who finished victorious. They took the win with a time of 01:31:16. Nerys Hall (Wey Kayak Club) and Kamila Sklenarova (Norwich Canoe Club) took second, and Frankie Scrivener (Falcon Canoe Club) and Beth Perry (Southampton Canoe Club) taking second.
Freddie Heard and Toby Bullock of Exeter Canoe Club were the U16 Junior boy’s K2 national champions. They raced over 13km and completed the course with a time of 01:01:10. Oliver Mazur and Tyler Kinder (both Reading Canoe Club) took second and Isaac Aveson and Tom Hatton (both Royal Canoe Club) took third.
In the U16 Junior girl’s race, it was Dianora De Bilio (Royal Canoe Club) teamed up with Charlotte Fulford-Perez (Reading Canoe Club) to claim gold. They finished the course with a time of 01:10:45. Sophie Dunlop and Katharine Boon (both Elmbridge Canoe Club) took second and Emily Bowles-Trow (Addlestone Canoe Club) and Delilah Webb (Wey Kayak Club) took third.
Racing over 6.5km the U14 Junior Boy’s K2 national champions were Marcell Nagy (Reading Canoe Club) and Freddie Heard (Exeter Canoe Club). The Exeter paddler doubled up his K2 races to secure double national championship titles. The U14 duo completed the course in a time of 00:28:33. The Elmbridge Canoe Club crew of Madison McKernan and Imogen Field took the gold medal in the U14 Junior Girl’s K2 with a time of 00:32:09.
In the U12 Junior Boy’s race, Fergus Barnett (Worcester Canoe Club) and Jack Wade (Reading Canoe Club) secured the gold medal. They completed their 6.5km course with a time of 00:35:17. For the Junior Girls in the U12 class, it was Ruth Shephard (Reading Canoe Club) and Orla Anderson (Southampton Canoe Club) who took the win. They completed the course on the River Yare with a time of 00:37:45.
The U10 races took place on the Great Broad with the paddlers completing a 3.5km course. In the Junior Girl’s K2 race, Adriana De Bilio (Royal Canoe Club) joined up with Celelia Blanchard (Norwich Canoe Club) and took the win with a time of 00:24:47.
It was great to see such competitive racing and full start lines in the junior races over the weekend. There were lots of juniors racing hard no matter where they were in the field and not giving up when things weren’t going their way or following their plan. Well done to all who competed.
U18 Boys K2 StartLandsborough & Maloney at the finish of their U16 Girls K2U12 Boy’s K2 StartU18 Girl’s K2 StartMckernan & Field after taking the win in the U14 Girls K2U18 Boys K2 finish for silver and bronzeBullock & Heard at the portage of the U16 Boy’s K2
Masters K2 Races
Athletes in the O34 Men’s races took on an 18 km course on the River Yare. It consisted of three laps and five portages. The O34 women took on a 13km course alongside the O44 race class. Their race consisted of two laps and three portages. The remaining race classes competed over 6.5km, completing one lap of the course.
Caroline Dallimore & Stephanie Robinson (Cardiff Bay Kayakers)
O54 Men K2 StartWatts & De Bilio at the finish of their O44 Women K2 RACEO44 Men K2 racing into the portageO34 Men K2 StartO44 Women K2 Start
Congratulations to everyone who competed at this year’s Canoe Marathon National Championships. It was highly competitive competition with Norwich Canoe Club taking the overall win in the club points, Wey Kayak Club taking the win in the junior points and Nottingham Kayak Club taking the win for the Ladies K1 trophy.
Nottingham Ladies collecting the K1 Ladies Team TrophyWey Juniors collecting the Junior Team TrophyNorwich Canoe Club collecting the overall club winner trophy
A huge thank you to Norwich Canoe Club for organising and hosting this brilliant event, particularly Sarah Walker who did an exceptional job of leading the organising and running of the event.
You can still see all the official event photos here.
We are still seeking a host for next years National Championship so if you, your club or a couple of clubs are interested in discussing with us about the possibility, contact Dan Seaford here.
The 85th Descenso Internacional Del Sella will take place this Saturday 5th August in Asturias, Spain. We have a long history with paddlers competing in the event from teams being selected historically to several clubs now supporting paddler entries over recent years.
In the 85th edition, we have 39 boats with 62 paddlers representing Great Britain and their clubs on the start line. You can find the full start lists via the event results page here. All paddlers will start at 11am BST from Arriondas and racing the 20k route down to the sea at Ribadesella. If you have not had the opportunity to watch any of the previous Sella Descents, you can find live streams and videos on youtube here.
While majority of the racers will only compete on the Saturday, the Senior Men K2 and K1 racers also compete tomorrow morning in a time trial to determine their starting order on Saturday. You can view the full results from this time trial here.
Spanish television live stream the whole descent, with a focus on the front of the race. You can find the live stream for this on the RTVE website here.
We wish all British racers the best of luck and we look forward to cheering you all on via the live stream on Saturday.
Gloucester Canoe Club have announced new club racing colours for their club which is active as of now for the 2023 season. Club members will be wearing the below vest while racing but might still wear the old vest for the time being.
You can view all active club racing colours on our website here.
Following the National Championships, the Selection Committee met to select the two teams for the Worlds. Thank you to Norwich Canoe Club for hosting a successful weekend of racing. See below for the full selection note and handicap data.
We would like to congratulate the athletes on their selections to their respective teams.
Although it now feels longer after all the action that happened at the National Championships last weekend, the European Championships were only two weeks ago! A 13-strong team of athletes travelled to Slavonski Brod, Croatia, bright and early on Tuesday 11th July to be greeted by sweltering hot temperatures.
The racing took place over four-days, with the first day dedicated to short course racing for both Junior and Senior athletes for the first time. Long course racing in both K1 and K2 categories took place over the next three days. It was set to be very competitive with 307 athletes representing 23 European Countries.
The European Championship Team at dinner after the opening ceremony.
Short Course Racing – Thursday 13th July
Day one of the 2023 ECA Canoe Marathon European Championships saw some impressive and tight short course distance racing, resulting in one gold medal, one silver medal and one bronze medal.
The morning events consisted of short course heats for our junior and senior men. Some strong racing resulted in James Russell (Chelmsford Canoe Club), Harry Freeland (Reading Canoe Club) and Arthur Morley (Wey Kayak Club) automatically qualifying to their finals in the afternoon and Matthew Collinge (Fowey River Canoe Club) earning a best time qualification place too.
The Junior Women K1 Short Course was the first final of the day with British representation in Greta Roeser (Wey Kayak Club) and Sienna Payne (Chelmsford Canoe Club).
A powerful start for Greta allowed her to claim a lead position with the front group. Throughout the 3.4km course, she was consistently able to show her dominance within the field and after going clear from the rest of the field at the first portage, the European Champion title was hers for the taking. She claimed a magnificent gold and the first British medal of the competition with a time of 00:15:41.
Speaking after being crowned European champion, Greta said, “I’m really pleased, it is such a positive result and I’m very happy with gold. With the course being on a river, you’ve got flow and you’ve got different angles of the portages and different locations of the buoys. It creates a different technical event, which is quite interesting because I was having to think about my next move and the next turn as well as putting in the strength and power. It’s been a great first day for the team, the junior team are just flying at the moment and I think we are all very proud of our accomplishments. It’s all due to some great training throughout the winter. I’m excited and looking forward to the long course. I hope it will be similar because that would be great, but there are a lot of quick people out there so I’m hoping to get on some quick washes.”
In her international canoe marathon racing debut with one year still to go as a junior, Sienna had a brilliant race that saw her claim the bronze medal. As well as being a strong paddler, she was also very fast paced over the 100m portages, making up a few places on her first portage. She came into her second portage in third and a quick run saw her get back in the water and comfortably maintain the third place position round the final lap before she crossed the line bringing the bronze medal home.
Speaking after her bronze medal finish, Sienna said, “It’s very overwhelming and unexpected to be honest, I’m quite pleased and happy with the result. I hope the rest of the weekend goes this well. It’s been nice so far, although very hot. The course is good and I really like the length of the portage, that is a big positive for me.”
The Juniors continued to shine in the Men’s K1 Short Course Final. Harry Freeland (Reading Canoe Club) had a great start to the 3.4km race. He established his place in the front group in the opening lap, taking up the lead going into the first portage. An impressive run made him the first boat back in the water. He broke away from the rest of the field with the Spanish boat of Pazos. An epic sprint finish saw the two boats cross the finish line within a second of each other. Freeland secured silver and third medal of the day for the Brits with a time of 00:14:06.
Speaking after his race, Harry said, “My race went really well. It was a race where I knew where I was going with the portages and the turns, so overall the race really went my way. I was surprised with how I compared to my competitors. After last year’s results I thought I might be towards the backend of the group. It gives me the confidence for Saturday’s long course that I can be up there. I spoke with Charlie Smith about portaging before I started to get some advice. He said to take your time and spending that extra second to get yourself in the right position will help you get a better race. With junior boys, it can be so unpredictable, so it’s about staying calm and staying clean. I’ve practised portaging quite a lot and I do a lot of running, so it’s definitely my strong side.”
Arthur Morley (Wey Kayak Club) was close behind his teammate, putting in a solid effort in the middle of the field. He secured himself a top ten finish in ninth place with a time of 00:14:55 in his international debut.
Fay Lamph (Wey Kayak Club) was representing Britain in the Senior Women’s K1 Short Course race after five years away from international marathon competition. She had a good start to her race, gaining a comfortable position in the second V wash of the lead group. However, she consistently found herself on the fifth wash of the group and ultimately finished in a strong seventh with a time of 00:15:48.
The Senior Men closed off the day with a highly contested K1 Short Course race. James Russell (Chelmsford Canoe Club) was joined by U23 paddler Matthew Collinge (Fowey River Canoe Club) as they lined up in a stacked start line.
A powerful start from Russell saw him secure a promising front V wash position. He maintained his position within the leading group around the opening laps and into the first portage. This put him a particularly strong position as the reining European Champion, Mads Pedersen, had got caught up in a series of crashes and incidents off the start. A solid run saw him obtain third position out of the first portage. However a lead group of three started to break away, made up of two previous short course champions with Pedersen managing to catch up just in time, leaving Russell in fourth. A battle around the final lap, solidified the fourth place position for Russell, bettering his sixth place finish at the European Championship last year by two places. He finished with a time of 00:13:45.
Speaking after his race he said, “I’ve got mixed emotions, no one likes finishing fourth, but it’s an improvement on last year and I’m heading in the right direction. There is a lot of flow on the course, which is similar to the River Trent in many respects which helps as I train there a lot. But starting on the left hand side certainly didn’t help things. I just had to really commit to the first turn to make sure I could get out in front of all the carnage that was going to happen. I did that, but it cost a lot and I was really just hanging on from there on in. I was annoyed to turn around and see Mads (Pedersen) catch up again.”
Matthew Collinge also put in a dedicated performance around the course to finish in 16th position with a time of 00:14:21 in his international marathon debut as well as still sitting within the Under 23 age category.
Long Course Racing
The long course racing kicked off bright and early on Friday morning with the Junior Girls K1 event. Yet again, Greta Roeser (Wey Kayak Club) and Sienna Payne (Chelmsford Canoe Club) lined up to represent Great Britain.
A brilliant start for Greta saw her establish herself on the side wash of the leader. In the opening laps of the race she settled into the lead group of four boats, alongside two Hungarians and a Spaniard. The group put in a strong effort to create a massive gap between them and the chasing pack. After the first portage, Greta and the two Hungarians broke away from the Spanish boat, confirming themselves as the top three boats of the race. It was lap four that saw Greta and the Hungarian boat of Szerafin go clear. They completed the remaining laps as a duo until the final small lap when Roeser dropped back and confirmed her second place finish. A fantastic second race for the Wey Paddler that saw her become a double European Championship medallist, bettering her two bronze medals from last years championship in Denmark. She crossed the line completing the course with a time of 1:32:49.
Speaking after her silver medal win, she said, “It feels great, I’m very pleased and pleasantly surprised again. I was up against some quick girls out there. I knew it was going to be quick off the start and it quickly broke away into different groups after the first turn, which was nice. I was just trying to maintain speed and try to expect what move was going to come next. I knew there was a chance I could be in contention for the top group. The plan was to get into one of the front four positions of the diamond and then I was just going with the flow.”
Unfortunately for Sienna, a bustling start to the junior race ended in a capsize within the first 200 metres. She showed perseverance and continued on for a few laps before retiring from the race in order to rest up for her K2 race the next day.
The afternoon saw temperatures well over 30 degrees for the Under 23 K1 Long Course races. These temperatures had major impacts on the performances of many athletes within the two races.
Samantha Martyn (Wey Kayak Club) secured a top ten finish at her debut at a European Championship. She had a strong start, after successfully avoiding a collision that occurred within the group off the start line. It was a rocky race and a collision for Martyn later in lap one caused her to drop back. Martyn exhibited brilliant perseverance as she advanced around the 22.6 km course solo for the majority of the race. She managed to fend off the group behind her and maintained a strong speed so they couldn’t catch her up. She was the tenth boat across the line and finished with a time of 1:55:00.
The U23 K1 Men’s race rounded off a hot day of racing. Matthew Collinge (Fowey River Canoe Club) and Luke Shaw (Norwich Canoe Club) lined up on a highly competitive start line ready to battle it out over 26.3km. It was a fast paced start to the race and both Brits got off well. As a lead group formed off the line, both Collinge and Shaw were able to establish strong positions within it. Matt claimed the V wash, with Luke taking up the front side wash. Shaw put in a big effort leading the race around a large part of lap two.
The paced increased coming away from the first portage which caused Collinge to start dropping back from the leaders. His perseverance shone through as he pulled it back and joined team mate Shaw and the Irish boat, Foley, in a chase group. The Brits teamed up to paddle as a duo in lap five of the race before Shaw dropped back and Collinge put in a gruelling effort to complete the remaining distance paddling solo. His efforts were rewarded with a strong top five finish. Collinge was the fifth boat across the line with a time of 1:56:38.
Speaking after his race, Matt said, “I’m feeling really happy because I was only hoping to get a top ten finish. That was my aim and I didn’t really know exactly where I was going to be within the field, so I’m really happy with a top five result. At the start I was reasonably confident because my sprints have been going quite well recently, so I knew I should be able to get up there off the start. The group did like moving around a lot and they did a few annoying burns I didn’t enjoy as much. I just tried to minimise the amount of burns I had to do, so when they all started an â€up’, I just tried to ride the wash back into the group again to avoid doing burns when necessary. It’s really tough paddling solo, but then again, I grew up training at a small club in Cornwall and when I used to race, there was virtually no one to race against, so I would do it pretty much on my own anyway. I’m quite used to time trialling. It was very hot today. I was just trying to take on as much liquid as possible to help with that. The flow of the course is quite like Nottingham (where Matt currently trains) in terms of tactics, like hugging the bank due to the fast flow. There were a couple of sections with rocks sticking out, and I had a close call at one point in the race. Overall it was challenging, but in a good way.”
After a favourable first half of the race, Shaw found himself in the middle of the field in the closing laps as the weather conditions caught up. He continued to endure on to complete the race in eighth position with a time of 1:59:37.
Saturday saw the longest days of competition for our British team with racing starting early in the morning and the last finish not finishing until the evening. Our team staff were certainly kept busy!
It was an early start for the Junior Men in the morning for their K1 long course race. Silver medalist Harry Freeland (Reading Canoe Club) and Arthur Morley (Wey Kayak Club) were back in action over the 22.6 km distance.
Both Brits got off to a flying start. As a large lead group formed off the line, they both established good positions. Freeland put in an effort during lap one to lead the race. However, the Brits dropped back to the chasing pack coming into the first portage. Morley displayed great determination as he powered around the course. He matched his short course result from Thursday, crossing the finish line in ninth with a time of 1:44:42.
An impressive top ten finish from the Wey paddler at his first major international championships. Speaking after his race, Morley said, “I’m happy with how long I managed to stay with the first group. I’d like to have stayed with them after the first portage but it was a big group and struggled to make my way into that front four. The pace was a lot slower today, it was nice to use washes and because it was bigger laps, we didn’t have the portages splitting us up quite as soon.”
Freeland had a tough second half of his race, with temperatures already hitting 30 degrees early this morning. He persevered around the course and finished in 17th with a time of 1:47:55.
The next race on the course saw Greta Roeser (Wey Kayak Club) and Sienna Payne (Chelmsford Canoe Club) team up for the junior Women’s K2 long course, joined by fellow brits Matilda Enoch (Nottingham Kayak Club) and Isla Bethune (Elmbridge Canoe Club).
A swift start for the Enoch and Bethune saw them secure a position in the lead group of four boats in the opening lap. Payne and Roeser settled into the chase pack off the line. The two Hungarian crews broke away in lap two, forcing the Nottingham and Elmbridge team to keep the pace high as they chased them down.
Roeser and Payne proved their running skill in the first portage, overtaking every other crew boat. They were the third boat back in the water behind the two Hungarian, with Enoch and Bethune were right behind them going into lap three.
The Chelmsford and Wey team put in a huge effort to chase down the second place boat and put themselves in contention for silver in lap four. They crossed the line seventeen seconds ahead of the third place boat after storming ahead of them on the last portage. They completed the course in a time of 1:27:28.
Greta adds another silver to her K1 gold and silver medals and Sienna adds to her K1 bronze. A fantastic display of talent from the junior girls. This was the first time Greta and Sienna had raced together in a crew boat, making the silver medal that much more impressive.
Speaking after claiming her second silver medal of the championships Greta said: “It feels really great. I’m so pleased. We had 20 minutes of practice yesterday and the first half of the race was more or less getting used to the boat, but I think we did really well.”
Sienna continued, “This was the first time we’ve been in a crew boat together. I thought we were great, I loved every second of it. I’m so pleased. It has been a bit of a roller coaster of a trip for me. Lots of ups and downs. It’s been good to learn how to deal with both good results and bad results this weekend.”
Isla Bethune (Elmbridge Canoe Club) and Matilda Enoch (Nottingham Kayak Club) finished in sixth position in a time of 01:30:53, after a tight battle to the finish line.
It was then time for Fay Lamph (Wey Kayak Club) to line up for her second race of the championship. After her seventh in the short course, she improved her result by two places over the longer distance with a top five finish. She established herself in the lead group off the start and battled to maintain her position around the first two laps, only dropping off around the first portage.
In her final long lap, she put in a strong effort to close the gap to the chase group, consisting of the silver and bronze medal positions, by herself. She came heartbreakingly close as the group picked up the pace and moved away from her again.
A fantastic fifth from Fay rounded off her racing at the European championships. She completed the 26.2 km course with a time of 2:09:29.
Speaking after her race, Lamph said, “I enjoyed the race, it was very tough for the first few laps and I really struggled to come of the fifth was, luckily I’m used to this from the Wey club training sessions. It’s really great to be racing on a proper river rather than a lake, it’s a very technical course which has made it interesting. I have been guzzling a lot of water and electrolytes and I really began to struggle as I ran out of drink with 5k to go. It was really tough.”
James Russell (Chelmsford Canoe Club) was last on the water in the K1 Men’s long course race. With the sun blazing and temperatures still above 30 degrees at 17:15 local time in Croatia, it was a tough race for the athletes competing.
Russell had a brilliant start and as a group formed off the line, he claimed the V wash. Within one lap, the pace was still incredibly hard as Mads Pedersen (Denmark) was determined to stripe the top group away early on. James stayed with the crazy high pace until the group reformed. However, the combination of the heat and pace started to hit around the first portage, when he started to drop back. Russell retired from the race on lap five due to the extreme heat at the course.
The final day of competition saw only Joe Enoch & Huw Singleton (Nottingham Kayak Club) race in the Junior Boys K2. Temperatures were already reaching highs of 26 degrees at 8:45am local time, as the boys lined up ready to battle in out on the 22.6km course. They got off to a flying start and formed a large leading group with eight other crew boats, finding good positions on the wash.
The Nottingham crew had a strong first lap, keeping pace with the leading group. However, it started to become clear that something wasn’t right when the crew began to drop to the back of the field in lap three. After putting in a commendable performance, the duo unfortunately had to retire from the race in lap three due to sickness. Gutting for the boys who had put themselves in great positions at the start of the event.
Speaking to the Team Leader, Katie Williams, about the teams success and challenges over the past four days of racing in Slavonski Brod, she said, “It’s been a very busy and full on weekend of racing for the whole squad, especially those who have come straight from sprint worlds. The course is a very technical course on a river, and it has been very interesting to watch. Overall the team has done fantastically but obviously the heat has really affected quite a few competitors. It’s been about 30 degrees for most races and some raced even at 35 degrees. It’s been lovely to see Matt, Sienna and Arthur at their first major championships doing so well and to see Fay back racing after 5 years away from internationals. We’ve been really lucky to have so many supporters come out to watch too which has really helped the team. It’s been a learning curve for some about how to manage paddling in bigger groups at times and the importance of getting nutrition and hydration right. I’m sure everyone’s looking forward to getting back home to train for World Champs selection in slightly cooler weather.”
It was a tough championship for our British team with the conditions but lots of lessons learned for all and a clear eagerness to build on the performances for their next races. Well done to the whole team.
We also would like to thank the team of staff who volunteered their time to ensure that the athletes were well looked after during their time away and were able to focus on their racing. Thank you to Katie, Peter Gorman, Bryn Price and Iain Bainbridge.
Our attentions now turn to the World Championships at the end of August and we wish the team selected all the best of luck. We look forward to cheering you on as you race in Denmark.
Following the Marathon National Championships in Norwich on the 22/23 July, the MRC Selection Committee has chosen a team to represent British Canoeing at the French National Championships.
Norwich Canoe Club are gearing up to host the 2023 edition of the British National Canoe Marathon Championships 2023 and the Marathon Racing Committee are super excited to see some close racing on show throughout the weekend.
You can still find the full details of the event via the race details here, including schedule of races and course details. See below for final details on car parking.
We will be sharing live updates via our social media channels throughout the weekend, including photos and links to live results. There will also be some live streamed videos on our Facebook Group.
We hope you all have safe journey’s up to Norwich and have an enjoyable weekend of racing. Thank you to Norwich Canoe Club, once again, for hosting and organising.
Car Parking
Car parking is in a field on Whitlingham Lane (what3words- loved.clouds.entry.). There will be flags and people on the gate. ÂŁ6 per day or ÂŁ10 for the weekend and will be open from 07:30am each day.
No caravans or towed vehicles/trailers are able to access this field. Campervans are ok. There is no overnight parking allowed.
Club trailer and overnight boat storage is available at your own risk at the club. For disabled parking, please contact secretary@norwichcanoeclub.co.uk.
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