Great Britain celebrated a superb three-medal haul on day one of the 2024 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in Madeira.
Highlight of the day was a brilliant bronze for Cornish paddler Terry Miller in the Surf-ski single junior men’s category.
And the Brits dominated the podium in the men’s masters 60-64 age group.
Scott Wood claimed the gold, while compatriot Roy Fieldus took the bronze.
There was also an excellent seventh-place finish for Brynde Kreft in the senior women’s race.
“There were fantastic performances from all the GB team,” said Nick Hibberd, chair of Ocean Racing UK.
“Conditions were tough with pure downwind changing to a strong headwind which made for a real test for all the athletes.
“It was great to see GB ocean racing competing with the world’s best and achieving top 10 and top five results across the categories.”
A 20-strong British team competed among a total of 441 paddlers from 35 countries across junior, under 23, senior and masters categories.
Tackling a 21km course from Machico to the finish at Madeira’s capital, Funchal, paddlers enjoyed helpful downwind conditions for the first third of the race but then battled a gruelling headwind all the way to the finish.
Eighteen-year-old Terry Miller came on strong in the second half of the junior men’s race to climb up to third.
The 18-year-old then held off Pablo Rosco (Spain) and Leonardo Candela (Italy) in a tight three-way battle for bronze, crossing the line in 1hr 40min 29 secs – the second-quickest time by a British paddler.
Team-mate Owen Pope had been in medal contention before claiming a great ninth-place finish with the British squad’s third-quickest time of 1:43.37.
William Turner, making his international championship debut, completed the British trio in 21st.
Scott Wood went clear with Australian Jeremy Norton in a battle for masters men 60-64 gold.
The 2022 world bronze medallist eventually broke clear to win by 20 seconds, clocking 1hr 48min 28secs.
His British team-mate Roy Fieldus, a former world silver medallist, found himself alone in bronze medal position and crossed the line in 1:54.42, with Calum Urquhart (2:11.22) finishing 13th.
Ant Lake was the fastest Brit overall from gun to flag, clocking 1hr 39min 24secs in a high-calibre senior men’s race, won by German Gordan Harbrecht in a sensational time of 1:27.31.
Gus England posted 1:49.00 for 37th and a top-half finish in the 77-man field, while Ivor Jamieson was less than three minutes back in 46th.
For the under 23 men, Toby Peyton-Jones came home in 1:49.40 for 28th in a 43-man field.
South African-born Brynde Kreft, who moved to the UK for her PhD, enjoyed a strong second half of her race to come sixth in the senior women’s race, posting 1hr 53min 18secs.
Lena Kraus matched last year’s world championship debut finish of 13th, with Lucy Godley in 21st.
Former European bronze medallist Rosie Edwards claimed a superb fifth-place finish in the under 23 women’s race.
The 19-year-old was the fastest British woman, clocking 1:52.05 to improve on eighth place at last year’s worlds.
North-Devon based Ella Jones produced a good showing on her international debut, finishing 11th in the junior women race in 2:28.43.
As well as medal heroics in the men’s 60-64 race, there were other fine British results in the masters paddlers.
Richard Howes grabbed a fine fifth place for the 65-69 men in a time of 2.12.12, and there was a top-10 finish for Ian Robinson (2:24.03) in the 55-59 men’s category.
In a competitive 23-man field for the 50-54 men, Nick Hibberd was first GB paddler home in 2:09.14 for 14th, while Brenden Bosch was less than three minutes back in 18th.
Today’s results sit Britain fifth in the medal table at the conclusion of the singles racing.
The championship programme concluded on Saturday with the Surf-ski doubles, as Rosie Edwards and Terry Miller went again for GB in the under 23s mixed, and Owen Pope and Ella Jones lined up in the junior mixed.
Both pairs achieved seventh placed finishes for GB, rounding off an excellent Championships for the team.
SS1 Senior Men: 21st – Ant Lake 1hr 39min 24.96secs; 37th – Gus England 1:49:00.07; 46th – Ivor Jamieson 1:52:32.79
SS1 U23 Men: 28th – Toby Peyton-Jones 1:49:40.81
SS1 Junior Men: bronze – Terry Miller 1:40:29.13; 9th – Owen Pope 1:43:37.68; 21st – William Turner 1:57:49.42
SS1 Senior Women: 7th – Brynde Kreft 1:53:18.65; 13th – Lena Kraus 2:01:16.53; 21st – Lucy Godley 2:23:50.97
SS1 U23 Women: 5th – Rosie Edwards 1:52:05.45
SS1 Junior Women: 11th – Ella Jones 2:28:43.11
Masters –
SS1 Men 40-44: Richard Buston DNS
SS1 Men 50-54: 14th – Nick Hibberd 2:09:14.46; 18th – Brenden Bosch 2:21:08.25
SS1 Men 55-59: 10th – Ian Robinson 2:24:03.48
SS1 Men 60-64: gold – Scott Wood 1:48:28.45; bronze – Roy Fieldus 1:54:42.60; 13th – Calum Urquhart 2:11:22.65
SS1 Men 65-69: 5th – Richard Howes 2:12:12.54