Britain’s up and coming slalom team impressed on day three of the junior and U23 slalom World Championships in Liptovsky.
Thursday brought the junior individual runs to the Slovakian course, with nine of the twelve boats booking semi-final places for the next two days.
Jonah Hanrahan (Independent) was the top placed Brit in the junior men’s kayak heats, as all three of the team secured semi-final places at first attempt.
Needing a top 30 finish, Hanrahan lost a little bit of time on the early gates of the course, but he was clean throughout the run and remained composed to deliver a strong run in 83.25, which placed him 13th overall.
Pleased to comfortably qualify, he said:
“There was a slight mistake from myself in the top section, but other than that I was happy.
“I left a bit too much space on some gates where I lost some time but it was good enough for heats so I’m happy overall.
“Last year I missed out on the final after a really bad semi-final, but this year I’m aiming to go better and see what I can produce.
“I’ve really pushed myself over the winter to get myself in great shape. I’ve raced lots and tried a lot of different courses which should benefit me on this unpredictable course.”
Oscar Wyllie (Breadalbane) wasn’t far behind his British teammate in his third international season as a junior.
There was an early touch from the Scot, but he also regained his composure from the early error to keep the rest of his run clean to clock 84.07.
A 27th place for Gwion Williams (Llandysul) ensured it was three from three for the Brits. Williams did lose some time in the final part of the course, including a late touch on 20, but he eased through thanks to the upper section of the course in a time of 87.69.
Zoe Blythe-Shields (Lee Valley) enjoyed a successful heats day as she took to the Liptovsky course twice in both the junior kayak and canoe heats.
She kept her runs down to a minimum as the 2023 Junior World finalist avoided the need for second heats in both boats.
Her strongest effort came in the kayak. Despite hitting gate one, Blythe-Shields built through her run as the split times behind the race leader became shorter.
She was error free for the remainder to cross the line in 93.28 and finish sixth.
Her canoe run was equally as successful. She did take two touches in this effort on 5 and 17, but her time of 104.59 placed her seventh and safely through.
She said:
“I’m really happy with how I’ve paddled today. I had a clear plan at the beginning of the day which I stuck to. There were a few points where I needed to adapt but I’m so happy with how I’ve done.
“It’s a tough course and I wasn’t the biggest fan but now I’m loving it. Having a good amount of time out here at a camp and ahead of this competition I’ve seen the benefits today.”
A similar feat was achieved by Arina Kontchakov (Lee Valley) as she qualified to semi-finals in both boats.
The junior kayak cross World bronze medallist also banked a top ten kayak finish, putting in a solid, clean run to finish ninth in 95.13.
Two touches in her canoe added four seconds to her effort, but again Kontchakov was safely in the top 20 needed to progress in a time of 112.18, placing 17th.
It was a solid performance from Sofia Alfer (Wyedean) in her junior World Championships debut as she contested the women’s kayak.
The 17-year-old picked up penalties on gates 1 & 7, but she made great ground on the bottom section to progress in 14th with 97.63.
Darcey McMullins (Lee Valley) ensured all four British women were through as she needed the second run to progress.
She placed 27th on the first effort, but put a quicker time down to finish ninth in her second run to qualify.
Sadly it wasn’t to be for the men’s canoe trio as they missed out on semi-finals.
William Kettle (Lee Valley) was incredibly close on his first attempt, just missing out in 21st place, but couldn’t produce a similar run in this second effort to place 18th as he needed the top ten.
Isaac Wright (Stafford & Stone) wasn’t far off in his second run as he cleaned up his effort from the first, but couldn’t quite find the pace he finished 12th overall.
A missed gate from Lewis Arden (Manvers) in his second run unfortunately took him out the running of a semi-final place as he came 27th overall.