Great Britain celebrated their fourth medal as the curtain came down on the ICF Wild Water World Championships, in Spain.
A day of sprint finals on the 350m course on the Esla River at Sabero was capped by a first British medal in the men’s canoe double team sprint since 1995.
The pairs of Jacob Holmes and Rob Jefferies, Andrew Crowhurst and Phil Dean, and Nick Boreham and Fred Brown negotiated the course in 48.51secs to take bronze, as the French claimed their 13th gold of the championships.
“It was a big win for us, we’re very proud and very happy,” said Boreham.
“We put down a few good runs in practice so we knew what we had to do and it was just about executing it.
“We had a couple of slight wobbles coming up to the line because we had put so much in and were running on fumes, but Andrew and Phil put in a stunning finish.
“We’ve been supported by some great coaches in Jamie (Christie) and Nick (Cressy) who have beaten us into shape so we owe them a lot of thanks.”
British team manager Jamie Christie said:
“C2 team is really hard, but they just looked smooth and it all came together.
“They are all new crews so to manage everything that is going on in a team race is an incredible achievement.”
The bronze added to Kerry Christie’s K1 classic silver, a canoe double classic gold for Kerry and sister Emma, and team bronze in the women’s canoe classic.
“To medal across all those disciplines is amazing really, Jamie added.
“We have been performing across all of the classes and that is the main positive from the week – that and how the team has worked together.”
Kerry Christie got the ball rolling on day four for Great Britain in the women’s kayak final.
The Leicestershire paddler had qualified 13th-fastest, but was thrown offline close to the finish, hitting the wall and drifting over the line in 49.80secs.
Britain qualified two boats for the women’s canoe final, with Chloe Bracewell and Laura Milne coming through heat two.
Bracewell posted 58.71secs for 12th place, while Milne posted her fastest time from three runs, taking three-tenths of a second off her qualifying time to finish 11th.
Milne and Christie were soon back up at the start line for their second final of the day as three GB boats went in the women’s canoe double.
Juniors Ciara Maloney and Elsie Landsborough took 1.5 seconds off their qualifying time to edge past Mags Dilai and Milne with a run of 52.38secs which was good enough for seventh place.
Kerry and Emma Christie were looking for their second medal in the discipline after winning classic gold on day one, and they shaved more than two seconds off their qualifying time to post 49.52.
They remained top with three boats to go, but were nudged into fourth, 1.4secs outside the podium places.
Having finished fifth over the classic course, the Christie sisters and Lucy Guest were sixth in the women’s K1 team sprint, posting a time of 48.46secs.
Up next, Andrew Crowhurst, Ryan Mallon and Nick Boreham went in the men’s canoe team sprint final.
The British trio repeated their result from the classic final, placing eighth in the 12-strong field with a time of 56.31secs.
There was a top-10 finish for Huw Singleton, Alex Sheppy and Jacob Holmes in the men’s kayak team final.
A good run of 43.27secs put them in second after eight finishers, and ultimately left them eighth in the field of 19, a place higher than they achieved over the classic distance.
And there was a fourth-place finish in the women’s canoe team final for Laura Milne, Chloe Bracewell and Kerry Christie who completed her 11th run of the four-day event.
The British team clocked 1min 04.5secs to just miss out on the podium.
Sprint final results
Women’s K1: 15th – Kerry Christie 49.80s
Women’s C1: 11th – Laura Milne 56.34s; 12th – Chloe Bracewell 58.71s
Womens C2: 4th – K. Christie/E. Christie 49.52s; 7th – Maloney/Landsborough 52.38s; 8th – Milne/Dilai 52.50s
Women’s K1 team: 6th – K. Christie/E. Christie/Guest 48.46s
Men’s C1 team: 8th – Crowhurst/Mallon/Boreham 56.31s
Men’s K1 team: 8th – Singleton/Sheppy/Holmes 43.27s
Women’s C1 team: 4th – K. Christie/Bracewell/Milne 1min 04.50secs
Men’s C2 team: bronze – Holmes & Jefferies/Crowhurst & Dean/ Boreham & Brown 48.51s