Melissa Johnson stormed to a stellar seventh place finish in the senior women’s K1 short course and James Russell earned eighth best in the world in the senior men’s short course as they competed at the Canoe Marathon World Championships today.
Owen Chisholm also graced the top ten positions finishing in sixth in the junior men’s C1 long course.
Very different conditions for the marathon team compared to the last time they competed in Croatia at the European Championships last year. Rain poured down throughout the morning races and thunderstorms caused delays to the senior women’s short course heats this morning.
Once racing resumed both Melissa Johnson (Chelmsford) and Greta Roeser (Wey) cruised through their heats to earn spots in the short course finals in the afternoon.
The pace in the final was fast from the start line. Both brits kept the pace around the first of three laps but dropped back into chasing positions as they came into the first portage.
It was a hard fight to close the gap with the leaders after Andersson of Sweden decided to go clear.
Johnson stayed strong in the chase group and after a tight sprint finish with Milova of Czechia she earnt seventh place ahead of the Czech paddler in 0:14:50.
Roeser excelled as she raced up in the senior race having only just entered the U23 age category this year. She charged around the high paced final, not far off her teammate in the final lap, she finished 11th place in a time of 0:14:59.
Speaking after her race Melissa said: “There was a really strong field in the senior ladies final, it’s great to compete with the best in the world. I was happy with my performance it’s a big improvement from last year and I’m looking forward to racing the long course on Saturday.”
An electric senior men’s K1 short course final rounded off the days racing.
Coming off the back of a bronze medal in the short course at the European Championships Russell was in fine form today in his short course final. He was joined on the line by Matthew Johnson a fellow Chelmsford paddler, to take on the 3.4km race.
Russell launched off the start line as two groups formed. He earned the side wash of leader Lovemore, but was squeezed out as the groups combined.
His international racing experience shone through as he worked his way back up through the group.
The first portage was quick and saw Russell fighting to keep contact with the lead group.
Pimenta missed two buoys around the first turn of lap two and cut off the turn for a few boats. It allowed Pedersen and Lovemore to break away.
James managed to avoid a hold up and held strong in the chase group. He crossed the line in 0:13:07.
Matt endeavoured around the course towards the back of the field and crossed the line in 19th place with a time of 0:13:53.
The weather cleared for the junior men’s C1 long course.
Owen Chisholm (Richmond) had a fantastic start to his race. He found a side wash position as the lead group of six formed off the line. He was pushed wide on the top turn of lap one but managed to maintain his position in the top three.
The latter half of the opening lap saw the Richmond paddler drop back in the field.
After a strong first portage he kept pace with the chase group of four going into the third lap.
He maintained his position in the chase group around the remaining laps and then powered ahead to earn the sixth palace position in a time of 1:17:42.
Speaking after his race Owen said: “The start was very fast, but I managed to get onto the leading side wash. Going around the first turn we broke away as a group of three, however they quickly caught back up.
“I dropped just before the second turn, and took the middle laps easy with my group. I picked up the pace for the final lap and managed to drop them to finish in sixth”
The junior women opened today’s racing with their K1 long course.
Kamila Sklenarova (Norwich) and Sienna Payne (Chelmsford) took to the start line for their 19km race.
After a strong start from Sklenarova she secured a side wash position, but was pushed to the back of the lead group around lap one. Payne didn’t quite have the pace to maintain contact with the lead group but held strong in the chase group.
Conditions were tough and as the rain got heavier throughout the race.
Sienna put in the work to climb back up through the field. She was strong on the first portage and was in the second group back into the water going into lap three.
She maintained a mid field position to power around the remaining lap and cross the line in 14th position with a time of 1:34:07.
Speaking after her race Sienna said: “Well the race was alright. I don’t know what I was doing off the start, bit sub optimal there but caught a few of the girls back up and had a harder grind back but was decent in the end.
“Conditions were not fab. There was a bit of thunder and lighting every so often which was a bit off putting but almost made it a lot more dramatic which was mildly amusing.
“The whole start line looked really strong, it was definitely a strong field and I hope they all had the race they wanted.
“I’m looking forward to my K2 tomorrow and to see if Kamilla and I can improve on what we did today, I hope the weather is more decent.”
Sklenarova ultimately retired from her race.
Paracanoe Demonstration Race
Yesterday Shaun Cook took to the water for the men’s VL2 race as part of the paracanoe demonstration races at the marathon world championship. The hope is for the paracanoe races to be formally included within the World Championships next year.
The Norwich athlete took on the 11.8km course alongside Hungarian Suba and came 2nd with a time of 1:15:08 earning a silver medal.
Speaking after his race he said: “It’s so amazing and I’m so fortunate to have the opportunity to race at such a wonderful venue and to experience another culture. I loved competing against world class athletes here.
“It’s such an amazing privilege but also a challenge and my heart rate went through the roof for nearly two hours”
You can catch more paracanoe races tomorrow with Jon White and Tim Lodge competing in the KL2 and KL3 from 10:00am BST
Make sure to follow the Marathon Racing Committee social media pages for updates on all races over the next three days.
Racing continues tomorrow at 8:00am BST with the junior women’s K2 and the U23 men’s C1 long course races.