Highlight of canoeing season in Worcester

4:42pm Thursday 21st August 2008

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THE key event of the season and the culmination of 12 months hard racing for many flat-water racing canoeists is the British National Open Marathon Racing Championship which is being held on the River Severn in Worcester this weekend.

Racing begins at 9.30am tomorrow when paddlers will compete for the singles titles, while Sunday will see the competitors battling for the doubles prizes.

Points are awarded to paddlers and the club with the most points wins the team championship title.

The championship races have been scheduled so the competitors can watch their friends and fellow canoeists, who are part of Team GB, compete for medals in Beijing. The event will be a real opportunity to spot potential London 2012 canoeists.

Many elite paddlers take part in both flat-water racing and marathon racing.

Olympian Anna Hemmings, who is competing over 500 metres in K2 with Jessica Walker in Beijing, won the 2007 Women’s National Championships in singles and doubles plus the World Marathon title in Hungary in the same year.

Tomorrow’s racing coincides with the day of the finals of the 500m sprint events at the Olympics.

Flat-water racing takes place in the same type of boat as marathon racing, the only difference being that marathon boats are lighter than their flat-water racing counterparts. All eyes will no doubt be on ex-Olympian and six-time world champion Ivan Lawler, who will be competing to gain selection for the World Marathon Championships, which are in September in the Czech Republic.

Sunday’s event coincides with the closing ceremony in Beijing and the handover to London 2012.

There will also be a flag presented to Worcester’s mayor on Sunday at 2.30pm just before the start of the under 16 doubles races.

All of the races start and finish near to the Pitchcroft-based Worcester Canoe Club.

Over the weekend, athletes will race in both kayaks — paddlers sit in the kayak using a paddle with a blade at either end — and canoes — paddlers kneel in the canoe using a paddle with a single blade. There will also be a portage for many of the competitors. This is where the paddler gets out of the water and runs carrying the boat before putting it back into the water to continue.