All the British athletes progressed in their respective events on the opening day of the paracanoe and canoe sprint European Championships in Račice, Czechia.
Paralympic champion Laura Sugar MBE dominated her heat of the women’s KL3 to cruise to victory and claim a spot in the final. Compatriot Lindsay Thorpe, European 2023 silver medallist, was fifth and will race again in the semi-final.
Paris silver medallist Dave Phillipson also won his KL2 heat comfortably to book his spot in the final.
Paralympic medallists Stuart Wood and Jack Eyers both competed in the heats of the VL3. Stuart won heat 1 with Jack second in heat 2 setting up a competitive final on Sunday.
Tokyo bronze medallist Rob Oliver and World silver medallist Jonny Young contested heats of the KL3 – with Jonny coming through in second place in heat 2 with Rob taking third place in heat 1 in a photo finish.
In the canoe sprint, the British quartet of Emily Lewis, Deborah Kerr, Emma Russell and Zoe Clark had an unlucky draw in the heat of the K4 500m. With the top 3 qualifying straight through to the final, the Brits finished in fifth place to progress to the semi-finals.
Emma was back in the water in the K1 500m where she finished in fifth place. Deb and Emily teamed up again in the K2 500m, where they finished in seventh. They all move onto the semi-finals.
Tom Lambert was first up for Great Britain in the heats of the C1 1000m, where he finished sixth. He was back on the water later in the 500m distance to finish seventh. He wil race again in the semi-finals for both.
Beth Gill was fifth in the C1 women’s 200m, progressing through to semi-finals.
The schedule and live results can be found here:
Or to watch the racing, the Livestreaming will be free of charge during all four competition days.
- Thursday & Friday races will be streamed on the Canoe Europe YouTube Channel.
- Saturday & Sunday finals will be streamed on the Olympic Channel, where free registration is required to view the races.
How to watch on the Olympic Channel:
- Visit https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-channel
- Find the 2025 ECA Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe European Championships in the “Live” section and click the link
- Register for free to access the livestream. Once you complete the registration, you will be able to enjoy all the coverage.
Useful links
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canoeracice