The Great Britain team put down some more solid performances on day three of the 2025 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Hungary.
European K1 longcourse champion James Russell was unable to add a world medal in a fast-paced senior men’s K1 final won by Mads Pedersen, but recorded the day’s best finish for GB in sixth.
Russell lined up alongside team-mate Matt Johnson in a huge 44-man field, and after a predictably hectic start, both manoeuvred themselves into the front group before Russell got into an early breakaway group of eight.
With Pedersen going clear on just the second lap of eight, Russell worked hard to stay in medal contention in an unwieldy chase group of up to nine paddlers.
But as four went clear in a pursuit for the final two, the Nottingham paddler fell back into a seven-strong second chase group on lap five.
Having circulated for the first three laps around 20th place, Johnson moved up to 16th heading into the final 10km and eventually crossed the line 17th in 2:06.49.
Russell led home a slimmed-down second chase group, crossing the line sixth in 2:00:54, less than a minute outside the medal spots.
“It was pretty full on. Looking at the course beforehand, there’s so many features. It’s pretty stressful racing,” he said. “For the first three laps it didn’t settle, which was tough.
“So I was just trying to establish myself in a group. I realised I didn’t have the gas to stay in the front group, so I had to just reset myself. And I thought I could maybe win the second group. Luckily I’ve done the distance work so I knew I had it in my arms, and just had to manage my energy.
“I know Nico is a very good sprint paddler in the 1000m. So it was just keeping a check on him really.
“I’m really happy with the result. The quality of the men’s field is just incredible. So to make the top six, I’m really happy.”
The penultimate day of action in Gyor, opened with the junior men’s K1 final, raced over 21.8km, with GB fielding newly-crowned short course world champion Will Short and Will Roeser.
Short got away to a fantastic start, pulled along by the wash of leader Ivan Nekrasov, and got away in a breakaway of six.
But with the AIN athlete pulling a frantic pace at the front, Short dropped off the back into a large main chase group which also featured Roeser.
Like another one of the pre-race favourites, the defending world champion Leonardo Candela of Italy, Short then succumbed to illness and withdrew on the third lap of six.
With the four-strong lead group helped to an unbridgable gap by Nekrasov’s remarkable front-running display, Roeser continued to impress in a second group which had thinned out to six heading into the final lap.
While Ireland’s Sean Butterly was powering home in a thrilling two-man sprint for gold, struggles leaving the final portage cost Roeser a shot at a top-five finish, but he crossed the line in 1:35:46.00.
It gave the Wey Kayak Club paddler ninth place on his international debut, hinting at much more to come in the junior class in years to come.
In the junior women’s K2, GB fielded a new team of Kamila Sklenarova and Dianora De Bilio, who claimed K1 long course bronze on day two.
With the two powerful Hungarian pairs quickly establishing an unassailable lead, the British boat settled into group three, ending the first lap in ninth and then up to eighth by the midway point.
De Bilio and Sklenarova continued to improve, grabbing another place in a strong finish to cross the line in a strong seventh place.
There was frustration for Beth Gill in the senior women’s C1 after an incident late in the race.
The 2022 world short course champion made a superb start, powering her way into the lead and carving out a small advantage.
Home favourite Giada Bragato bridged the gap and moved just ahead of the 29-year-old by the end of the opening lap.
At the first portage, Gill was closed down by Daniela Cociu who took second place on the third lap of four, and was then hunted down and passed by former world and five-time European champion Liumyla Babak.
Disaster struck approaching the end of their penultimate lap as Ukrainian Olena Tsyhankova tapped the Nottingham paddler, sending her into the sprint finish of a Spanish junior men’s C2 pair, who were heading for bronze.
The incident earned Tsyhankova a penalty, but wrecked the race of Gill who lost her paddle, dropping from fourth to a distant ninth where she would finish in 1:21:17.87.
Katie Brookes faced her second K1 race over the long course as she lined up in the senior women’s K1 final, less than 24 hours after finishing 15th in the U23s final.
The Richmond Canoe Club paddler performed strongly in the first half of the 25.5k race, working with a four-strong group which occupied seventh to eighth to 11th places.
Brookes fell back on the fourth lap of seven, leaving her with a long solo paddle, only to be pipped to 11th place right at the finish by Romana Svecova, crossing the line in 2:06:57.16.
“Yesterday I was feeling good at the beginning of the race – I was really happy to get into the front group,” said Katie.
“Unfortunately I then came down with heatstroke but was still able to finish the race.
“It was a lot of strain on my body, but it was good to then be able to get experience with the seniors today.”
The championships conclude on Sunday with the K2 and C2 finals, with short course junior world champion Will Short due to team up with Alex Worgan in the junior K2, while Jessica Urquhart and Brynde Kreft going in the senior women’s K2.
And Britain will have two pairs in the senior men’s K2 – James Russell with Charlie Smith and Matt Johnson with Joe Enoch.
The full results and schedule can be found here.
Live streaming of the event can be found on Planet Canoe’s YouTube channel.