A spectacular performance from Ben Haylett saw him crowned U23 European Champion in the men’s kayak today in Krakow, Poland.
In his final year of U23 Haylett made dreams a reality securing his first individual medal.
The Holme Pierrepont athlete was the penultimate boat down the course in the final after a strong semi-final earlier in the day.
An early touch on upstream gate eight added pressure, but he didn’t let it get to him as he soared down the course and made up a lot of ground.
He was 1.37 seconds behind the leader (Paleau-Brasseur, Fance) on the second split, but a fast and flawless bottom section of the course saw him fly over the finish line and straight into first place.
With only one boat to go, the final run saw the Vuitton of France finish 0.74 seconds behind Haylett, which solidified his dreams of a golden first individual medal.
Haylett put down a championship winning time of 85.20.
Speaking after becoming European Champion he said:
“I’ll be honest, I’m a bit of a mess, very emotional and lot’s of happy tears.
“Everyone’s worked so hard towards this. Not just me, it’s my family, friends, coaching team, everyone, and to finally do it in my last year in under 23, at my last race. It’s brilliant.
“I hadn’t seen my competitors go down before me. I stayed well away and just wanted to race my race and replicate what I did in the semi-final as I knew that it was a solid good run. I knew the margins were going to be tight. So to race that freely was what I needed to do.
“I did know that I’d hit one and I hit the same gate in 2019, but I didn’t allow it to waver me. I just put my head down, cracked on. This is what we train for and what we’ve worked for my whole life since I was about nine years old, always hoping to get there one day and get a medal. So to have done it today is just massive.”
Sam Leaver (Edinburgh Schools) and Jonny Dickson (CR Cats) made it three Brits in the U23 men’s kayak finals, after finishing seventh and eighth places respectively in the semi-finals.
Dickson had a clean run finishing two seconds down on the leader. He went into second place with seven boats to go. It was then a nerve wracking wait. He was unfortunately knocked out of the top three after Haylett’s run and ultimately finished in fifth.
It was ninth for Leaver in today’s final. The U23 men’s kayak cross World Champion had a strong start and was ahead by 1.87 at the first split.
Trouble came towards the end of his run with three unfortunate touches on gates 17, 22 and 25. He finished with a time of 93.81.
Reigning U23 World Champion in the women’s kayak, Lois Leaver, was back in action representing Great Britain in the U23 women’s European Champs final.
After a strong semi-final run that saw her finish third, it wasn’t meant to be for Leaver today in the final. An early missed gate (six) and then two touches on gate seven and 17 knocked her out of medal contention.
She finished 11th, clocking a time of 157.85.
Two Brits featured on the start line for the junior men’s kayak final.
Gwion Williams (Llandysul) was up first having finished 7th in the semi-finals.
Still in his first year competing internationally, Williams had a clean and quick run which saw him storm down the course into 6th place with six boats to go.
After the final run down he sat in 10th position, just beating out team mate Wyllie. He posted a time of 94.35.
Oscar Wyllie (Breadalbane) was fifth in the semifinals and also had a clean run in his final. 96.33.
Crossed the line in 7th but ultimately finished in 11th position in the final.
Ellis Miller (Lee Valley) and Macy Kang also took to the water today in Krakow for the U23 women’s kayak.
Making it through to the semi-finals, Millier stormed down the course, but unfortunately picked up two touches on gates eight and 16 which bumped her out of final qualification.
She finished the semi-finals in 16th place with a time of 105.40.
Macy Kang looked strong, coming up ahead of the semi-final leader on both of her split times.
However there was heartbreak in the bottom section of the course, which saw her receive four seconds of penalties after touches on gates 22 and 25. She finished in 17th with a time of 106.08, outside of the top 12 positions needed to progress to the final.
Jonah Hanrahan (Independent) has had a strong season so far, however he missed out on a spot in the junior men’s kayak final after three touches put him outside the qualification time. He finished 25th in the semi-final with a time of 106.77.
The junior women’s kayak took on their semi-finals this morning, but unfortunately the British trio missed out on the top twelve positions needed to progress to the final.
Having topped the heats Zoe Blythe-Shields (Lee Valley) finished in 17th place.
Despite eight seconds worth of penalties, she had a strong run and just missed out on a finals position finishing with a time of 116.33.
Arina Kontchakov (Lee Valley) was clean through her final section of the course however three touches at the start of her race cost her a spot in the final. She finished in 19th place with a time of 117.59.
In her first year competing internationally for Great Britain Sofia Alfer (Wydean) put down a solid run. Regrettably she was given a 50 for gate 18 and two more touches pushed her out of final qualification. She posted a time of 180.24 finishing in 30th place.