Last weekend the ICF Canoe Slalom Championships took place in La Seu d'Urgell, Spain. The venue was purpose built for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and remains a world class venue and a real jewel in the Canoe Slalom crown.

All of the Peak UK Slalom Squad were in action as part of the GB team and they had a really successful race.

Team Race Finals - Saturday

Often the team race is the crowds favourite as 3 paddlers weave down the course at the same time working to not only keep control of the water but also to stay as close to their team mates as possible but without actually hitting them. The fast and narrow style of the course in Seu meant that it was going to be even more exciting than normal. Having medalled in 3 out of 4 team events at the European Championships the GB team had high hopes of more success at the Worlds.

The Men's K1 team of Campbell Walsh, Richard Hounslow and Huw Swetnam showed impressive form to qualify for the final despite Richard sinking on his way to the finish. Huw slightly misjudged his entry to the last breakout and speared Richard's boat holing him below the waterline and also breaking his seat. An hour later after a very quick trip to the Vajda repair service Rich's boat was good as new ready to race the finals.

In the final they pushed hard and went into an early lead when they crossed the finish line. Then came the agonising wait to see if any of the remaining 8 teams could better their score. In the end only the Czechs managed this so they scored a superb Silver Medal to add to their Gold from the European Champs.




Not to be bested by the Men the Women's K1 team of Louise Donnington, Laura Blakeman and Lizzie Neave charged down the course to go one better and take the Gold Medal by an emphatic 5 seconds. In doing so they added the World Championship title to their European Championship title they won in May.



Peak UK athletes Baillie / Stott led the GB Men's C2 team down the course to a closely fought Bronze Medal just edging out the Polish team.




Individual Race Finals - Sunday

The Individual finals took place on Sunday on a changed course from qualifying which was significantly more demanding.

The Men's C2 were the first class on the course and GB were well represented with Florence/Hounslow 3rd in the Semi close behind Peak UK's Baillie/Stott in 2nd. Florence/Hounslow didn't quite find their groove in the final and so finished 10th. Baillie/Stott had a pretty sketchy run but kept pushing hard and managed to score an eventual 4th equal which was a personal best for them.

Lizzie Neave was the only GB Women's K1 paddler to make the final and she made the most of being there putting in an awesome performance to take the Bronze Medal, WELL DONE LIZZIE!

The C1 Men's final saw Olympic Silver Medallist David Florence charging hard but in the end he didn't quite have the pace for a medal and finished 5th.

Peak UK's Huw Swetnam really stepped up when it counted and not only made his first World Championship Final but went on to finish a well respected 5th place closely behind his team mate Campbell Walsh in 4th. This meant that GB won the overall Men's K1 prize.

Last class of the day was the Women's C1 which was a demonstration event at this race. Peak UK athlete Fiona Pennie was the only GB representative to make the final and she had a promising start to her run. Her raw time would have put her second but unfortunately she collected a couple of 50 second penalties and so finished 10th.

For full race results and other information check out the official race website here: http://worldseu09.parcolimpic.com/

Full race video from the event and a number of photo galleries are available on the ICF Video On Demand website here: http://icfvod.sportstec.tv/

















Words by Tim Baillie. Photos by Ken Baillie and Fiona Pennie.

(Posted on the 21st Sep 2009 by timb)

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