News from Stafford & Stone Canoe Club
Canoe Slalom Senior European Championships Report
There were mixed fortunes for the quartet of Stafford and Stone Canoe Club paddlers competing at the 2016 European Canoe Slalom Championships at Liptovsky Mikulas in Slovakia between 13th and 15th May.
The race venue does not provide the biggest white water but the course is fast and very technical. The water is very cold as the Vah river is fed from the nearby High Tatra mountains with snow still melting and to add further challenge, the weather for the event was wet and cold.
Competition commenced on Friday with the qualification races and unfortunately Adam Burgess in Men’s Canadian Singles capsized and rolled on both of his runs losing valuable time and narrowly missed the cut for the semi-finals. With 30 to qualify Adam finished in 32nd place. Joe Clarke, Lizzie Neave and Mark Proctor all comfortably progressed through to the semi-finals.
A much more technical course was set for the semis and finals. On Saturday, whilst Lizzie and Mark enjoyed a rest day, Joe Clarke, competing in Men’s Kayak, delivered a super-fast semi-final run to place 6th and progress through to the 10 boat final. Joe’s final run started well but a small error half way down the course led to a missed gate and a 50 second penalty leaving him in 10th position. When Joe lines up in Rio to represent Team GB in the summer against many of the same paddlers he will be determined to deliver a fast and clean performance and challenge for the medals.
The team events concluded the Saturday racing. All 3 team paddlers tackle the course at the same time. With such a technical course the spacing between paddlers is crucial. Too close increases the risk of collisions and hitting the poles however too big a spacing is slow. In the Men’s Kayak Team Joe missed out on a medal finishing in 4th place, a fast time was recorded but there were five 2 second penalties incurred. Adam however made amends for his poor show in qualification to help the Men’s Canadian Singles Team claim Bronze medal alongside Rio bound Dave Florence and Olympic reserve Ryan Westley.
Olympic Reserves Mark Proctor and Lizzie Neave lined up for their semi-finals on the Sunday. Mark competes in the Canadian Doubles class with London Gold medallist Etienne Stott from Viking Kayak Club. The pair, who are only in their 2nd season of International competition, mastered the technical course to deliver a clean run and place 3rd in their semi. In the final a slightly slower time together with one penalty gave them 8th place, still a great result. As GB only fielded two C2’s, they were ineligible to compete in the team event.
Lizzie Neave struggled to keep her kayak on track in several places on the course in her semi-final losing valuable bits of time and with one penalty collected as well she had to settle for 16th place and out of the final. Not her best performance but still top GB Women’s kayak on the day. Just a few hours later Lizzie, together with Rio selected Fiona Pennie and Kimberley Woods returned for the team event and delivered a superb run, fast and with just one gate touch. As the first team down the course they had to anxiously wait for the other 9 teams to complete their runs. Only the German team came close to matching the GB performance but were still more than 4 seconds behind. The GB Women’s Kayak Team, and all of their supporters, were delighted when they were crowned European Team Champions.
(At the medal ceremony the honour of presenting the flowers to the K1W Teams went to newly appointed British Canoeing Chief Executive David Joy. For anyone who has lived in Stone for some time, they may remember David as a former teacher at Walton Priory Middle School in the early 1980’s).
New Local Store supports Young Athlete
Manorshop who have recently opened a store near Trentham Gardens are sponsoring local Canoe Slalom Athlete. Jessica Magson, who is a member of the very successful Stafford and Stone Canoe Club and currently has a place on British Canoeing Talent Programme, is thrilled that the local store is investing in her and supporting her to reach her full potential.
Without the support of sponsors for local athletes a lot of young talent would stay undiscovered. It’s great to see a local business investing in their future.
Gareth Jones (Manorshop Trentham Manager) said “Manorshop Trentham is a retail outlet of Manor PC’s. The store provides sales and repairs of mobiles, pc’s , tablets & laptops together with complete domestic & commercial electrical contracting services. The store operates to provide services to the Trentham & Stone areas. As part of the company’s existing support of young sportsmen & women it is proud to sponsor Jessica Magson, Stone canoeist, to help her achieve continued success in her canoeing talent programme.”
S&SCC Paul McConkey Memorial Slalom
This year’s S&SCC Paul McConkey memorial slalom was it’s 30th year.
The event was organised by the club chairman Dave Royle supported by S&SCC members and friends, who are always proud continue to host this prestigious event.
The event was held at Holme Pierrepont National White Water Centre, Nottingham. The heats and semi final were held on Sat 21 May and the Grand Final on Sunday 22 May.
The event as always was well attended with premier and division 1 paddlers from all over the UK.
Stafford & Stone Canoe Club paddlers won 4 out of 5 of the categories:
- C2 – Mark Proctor and Ettiene Stott
- C1M – Adam Burgess
- K1W – Lizzie Neave (The Ruth Holdway Memorial Trophy)
- K1M – Christopher Bowers (The Paul McConkey Memorial Trophy)
