The penultimate day of the U23 and Junior Canoe Sprint European Championships saw Great Britain battle it out in finals whilst securing medal opportunities for the final day.
British athletes were present in three A Finals and one B Final on Saturday, with William Short and Alexander Worgan producing a well-executed performance in the K2 junior men’s 1000m.
Donning matching baseball caps, the duo shone in the second half of the race and held off a charging Slovakian pair to cross the line in fifth place in a time of 3:25.060.
“We executed our plan very well and got a result we were really happy with,” said Short.
In the K1 Junior women’s 1000m final, Annie Bates produced a rallying performance in the back half of the race to take seventh in a time of 4:16.311.
Gabriel Popham-Coveley came ninth in the K1 U23 men’s 1000m, crossing the finish line in a time of 3:40.041.
Philippe Ehrnrooth saw an emphatic performance in the K1 Junior men’s 1000m B Final to take second place.
Ehrnrooth was locked in a tense battle at the front from the start before eventual winner Giulio Zugna of Italy pushed ahead.
Sat in third with 200m to go, the Brit powered forward to overtake Stepan Valenta and clinch second place.
The afternoon session saw Kristina Armstrong and Amy Green shine on the water with a dominating performance in their K2 U23 women’s 500 catapulting them into the A Final.
Armstrong and Green crossed the finish line in a commanding time of 1:43.731, a whole 1.050 seconds ahead of their closest competition, Anastazija Bajuk and Dunja Stanojev of Serbia.
Benjamin Cabrera and Tom Holland clinched a spot in the men’s B Final with a sixth place finish in an incredibly tight field.
Isaac Aveson will return for the K1 Junior men 200 B Final after a seventh place finish in his semi-final, crossing the line in 38.273 seconds, while Dianora de Bilio will be back for the women’s B Final for the same event, taking sixth spot in her race on the penultimate day of competition.
Haydyn Cooke-Bayley crossed the line in eighth during the K1 U23 men 200 as Katie Pocklington finished seventh in the women’s U23 race.
In the K2 Junior 500m semi-finals, there was success for Oliver Mazur and Freddie Heard, who finished sixth and will progress to Sunday’s men’s B Final , while Sophie Dunlop and Matilda Burton missed out on a top three spot and place in the women’s A Final with a time of 1:52.916.
In the K4 U23 women’s 500m, the quartet of Green, Elise Montagna, Grace Anderson and Jessica Urquhart finished fifth in their semi-final.
The schedule and live results can be found here.
Or to watch the racing the livestreaming will be free of charge on the Canoe Europe YouTube Channel.