The Peak UK team travelled out to La Seu d'Urgell along with the rest of the British squad to prepare for the European Champs. Set in the Pyrenees Mountains, Seu is a popular race venue due to its fantastic setting and ease of being able to get around by foot. There are not many places where the locals are used to seeing paddlers walking through the town with their paddle, kit bag munching on a baguette!

Being a course that most of us are so familiar with, it didn't take long for everyone to get tuned in and ready to race. After the lack of usual Seu hot weather in the days leading up to the race the sun finally shone through just in time for the heats.

Team Peak UK's Laura Blakeman had a shaky start after her boat fell off the measuring stand at pre-race boat control onto a screw which put a hole straight through the hull. Fortunately, Vajda repair service came to her rescue!

The highlight of the weekend's racing came from Team Peak Uk's Lizzie Neave who after winning the semi final, performed brilliantly under pressure to claim a Bronze medal in what was an extremely competitive K1 Women's final (adding to her 2009 Seu World Championship Bronze).



Laura Blakeman also put in a solid, composed run in the final to finish 7th. Fiona Pennie was clearly on-pace all weekend to be a strong contender but two touches in the semis kept her out of the final this time.

Peak UK's kayak women making up the 3 places of the British trio set off the start looking the part in the team finals and worked well together all the way down the run. The time was fastest enough for the gold but an unlucky 50 second penalty picked up by Lizzie in gate 6 denied them of the title.

Team Peak UK's Mark Proctor was on form and produced a smooth run in the final to finish 9th ahead of GB's David Florence in 10th. Fellow Peak UK Team member Dan Goddard showed he had the pace in the heats but unfortunately didn't produce a good enough run to proceed to the semis.

Team Peak UK's Huw Swetnam was paddling well and delivered a slick run in the semis that would have been enough to get him into the final. A dubious two second penalty given by the judge meant that he didn't proceed and get the success he deserved. Further frustration came in the team finals when after being up on time at the half way split, GB's K1M team led by Campbell Walsh got tangled up with each other at the last upstream gate and erased any remaining medal hopes. Richard Hounslow produced GB's mens kayak's best performance by finishing 5th in the final.

Overall, it was a successful kick off to the international season for the GB Squad and plenty of positives to take forward. Next stop: World Cup Tacen.

Words by Laura Blakeman.

For full results, news and lots of photos check out the Official European Champs website - http://canoeslalomseu.parcolimpic.cat

(Posted on the 15th Jun 2011 by timb)

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