By Nick Boreham
Last weekend saw paddlers descending on the Holme Pierrepont white water course in Nottingham for the first of the Wildwater European Cup Race. The race also doubled as the British Sprint Championships and served to select the British team for the 2025 World Championships in České Budějovice later this year.
The racing was split across two days with kayak categories racing on the Saturday and canoe classes on the Sunday. The weekend kicked off with a race for novice paddlers on the bottom section of the white water course, with athletes from the senior and U23 teams on hand to coach and give guidance to beginners of all ages.
But it was Saturday afternoon on the main course that the action really kicked off!
In the Men’s K1 Jacob Holmes took 1st place and the British Sprint title in a hotly contested field where the first 6 boats were separated by less than one second. 2nd went to Freddie Brown and 3rd to U23 paddler Eddie Mackintosh.
In the women’s kayak Kerry Christie, usually considered a classic specialist took home the British Sprint Champion title for the first time. Katie Pocklington finished just 0.66 seconds behind to sinch second while Lucy Guest rounded out the top three.
On Sunday it was the turn of the canoe’s on the white water course. The split between the two categories enabled more paddlers to double up between the different categories leading to the largest canoe field at a national race in recent history with over 41 boats across the different categories.
Slovakia’s Viktoria Scholzova dominated in the WC1, securing first place in the ECA cup. However the British Sprint Champion title went to Scottish paddler Sophie Cameron, who finished 2nd overall. Fellow Scott Freya Pryce came in 3rd.
The MC1 title was claimed by Andrew Crowhurst, demonstrating how valuable his years of experience are when navigating the difficult Nottingham course. NKC’s Nicky Cresser came in 2nd with Patrick Marriot taking 3rd.
The C2 classes were hotly contested with less than 0.36 seconds separating the top 3 MC2. Andrew Crowhurst added another gold to his collection with partner Harry Sewell-Catchpole. 0.22 seconds behind was the pairing of Jacob Holmes and Robert Jefferies, while Patrick Marriott / Nick Boreham came in 3rd.
In the WC2 first place was claimed by the reigning world champions Kerry and Emma Christie, but their win was not uncontested. Coming in second a crew of Viktoria Scholzova and Chloe Bracewell put the sisters under pressure, while juniors Ciara Maloney and Elsie Landsborough took 3rd after shaving off 2 seconds from their time on the final run.