Great Britain paddler Rosie Edwards produced a brilliant race to take gold at the 2025 ICF Canoe-Kayak Ocean Racing World Championships in South Africa.
Edwards pulled out the performance of the weekend in the U23 women’s race to become the first Briton to win an ocean racing world title.
She was backed up by top-10 finishes from Brynde Kreft, Olivia Geddes, Katie Luen-Twining, and Owen Pope in a productive weekend for the British squad.
“It’s been a fantastic World Championships for the GB Ocean Racing Team, with all our athletes racing well,” said team manager Nick Hibberd.
“What an incredible performance from Rosie to become the first British Ocean Racing world champion.”
The championships concluded with the much-anticipated Surf-ski single races in Durban, with 15 paddlers going for Britain across U18, U23 and senior categories.
After incredibly tough conditions on the run to Amanzimtoti on day one, paddlers again faced big swell on the longer 34km course to Westbrook beach, but with the wind mostly behind them.
Edwards was competing on the back of a breakthrough 2024 which brought a top-five world championship finish and a European bronze at U23 level, as well as the overall women’s title at the Cape Point Challenge in South Africa.
She started superbly and lay in contention tucked behind Kira Bester (RSA), Danielle Richards (Aus) and Michelle Burn at the halfway mark.
And a super finish saw the 21-year-old move past Burn and then hold off Georgia Singe through the surf to cross the line third overall in the women’s open race and as top U23 in 2hr 28min 17secs.
Bester took the gold in her first year in the senior ranks, narrowly ahead of Richards.
Among the British senior women, Brynde Kreft claimed a top-10 at the worlds for the second year running with seventh place in 2:36.26, and Lena Kraus (2:46.41) finished 13th.
Olivia Geddes placed eighth in the women’s U23 ranks with a time of 2:44.33, while Katie Luen-Twining (2:55.48) and Poppy Bellamy (3:01.22) were eighth and 11th in the U18 women’s category.
GB had a four-man contingent in the senior men’s race.
Jordan Roberts clocked 2:18.40 for 16th, while Ant Lake was 22nd in 2:22.34.
Matt Rowlands was next for GB in 38th (2:34.45), with Tim Gannicott-Porter in 43rd in 2:43.01.
U18 paddler Owen Pope improved on his ninth-place finish 12 months ago with a great time of 2:23.09 for eighth spot, ahead of teammates Freddie Broxis (2:31.59 – 19th) and Evyn Roberts (2:45.22 – 34th).
U23 paddler Terry Miller was the first home for GB in 15th (2:21:22), he as then followed in by Toby Peyton-Jones in 25th (2:27.29).
And William Turner posted 2:38.21 for 33rd in his first world championships in the U23 ranks.
Great Britain also had nine further paddlers going in the masters age groups, with Scott Wood finishing just 39 seconds outside a medal in the 60-64 men’s race, clocking 2:29.17 for fourth spot.
Masters results
35-39: 9th Andrew Birkett 2:27.10; 13th Juan Caruncho Abellanas 2:41.54. 50-54: 29th Nick Hibberd 2:49.00; 43rd Rob Harley 3:22.14. 60-64: 4th Scott Wood 2:29.17; 12th Roy Fieldus 2:39.46; 27th Calum Urquhart 2:54.30. 65-69: 23rd Philip Nye 3:06.41. 70-74: 9th Stuart Sherman 3:11.40