British Nationals Championships

A number of paddlers attended the British Marathon National Championships in Laleham Park on July 11^th and 12^th. Eighteen paddlers headed over and Derek Noud kindly towed the trailer.

Saturday was K1 day. There was an early start for our U14s, Oisin Caffrey, Danny Cooper and Ethan Noud, as well as Colm Higgins and Deaglán O’Drisceoil in their age categories. Some exciting racing for both our young and more experienced paddlers. Deaglán podiumed with a great silver medal in 2^nd place and the three U14s in the top 20, a great experience in a start of 31 paddlers. Next up was the U18s, Sean Noud, Andriy Kravchenko, Daniel Macken and Sean Smyth and U23s Paul Donnellan and Ben Higgins. Lots of tight and exciting racing with thrills and spills on the portages. Sean Smyth was in the lead group from the start and finished in 1^st place. Sean Noud came home in 5^th with both Daniel and Andriy in the top 20. Paul and Ben came home in 4^th and 5^th respectively in U23. After lunch, we had our U16s, Nicholas Finn, Simon Hearns, Patrick Melia and Eoin Roche. For many of these paddlers this was their first time racing with portages, water packs and 43 paddlers on the start line. All had a very exciting race with lots of learning experiences. The boys finished in places 21^st to 26^th. Our last racers of the day were Morgan Cooper and Martin Hearns. Both had great races and safe portages. Martin and Morgan finished 5^th and 8^th respectively.

Sunday brought K2 racing. First up we had Oisin and Ethan in U14s and Deaglán and Colm in their age category. Both boats got off to a great start with lots of cheering from their supporters. Oisin and Ethan finished in 5^th place, while Colm and Deaglán took a bronze medal finishing 3^rd. Next up were U18s SeanN/Sean S and Andriy/Daniel and Senior men Paul/Ben. Sean N and Sean S were in top group of 3 for the entire race, finishing 3^rd. Andriy and Daniel started well but had a couple of technical difficulties and unfortunately had to retire. In Senior Men, Paul and Ben finished in 8^th. Later, we had 3 boats in U16s Oisin/Ethan, Nicholas/Patrick and Simon/Eoin. All started well and managed the portages with style and precision. Oisin and Ethan were paddling up an age group and had already raced in the morning. They gave it a good go with a synchronised portage but later had to retire. Simon /Eoin and Nicholas/Patrick finished 9^th and 10^th respectively. Both partnerships worked well together with great paddling and smooth portages.

A big thank you to Wey Kayak Club for organising a great event and their help with registration. Congratulations to all our paddlers on their wonderful performances, including 4 podiums,   and of course, this trip wouldn’t be possible without everyone’s support and willingness to help.