A hard fought and long awaited bronze medal for James Russell (Chelmsford) rounded off an awesome day of racing at the 2024 Marathon European Championships today in Poznan, Poland.
After earning second in his heat earlier today, Russell was back in fine form to earn a well deserved bronze medal in an epic senior men's short course final.
It was a high calibre start line for the final. Russell was joined by fellow Brit and Chelmsford paddler Matthew Johnson, who also earned an automatic qualification for the final based on success in his heat.
Right from the start Russell was a force to be reckoned with. He secured a solid position in the front side wash. Johnson wasn't far behind around the opening lap.
James had a fast portage and he was the second boat back in the water. The leading group started to break down in lap two with Denmark's Pedersen and Norway's Vold joining forces with Russell to create a huge gap between the rest of the field.
The top three started to split as Pedersen upped the pace and broke away. James was able to maintain the distance between himself and the rest of the field and storm around the final lap, bringing it home with a third place finish. He put down an impressive time of 0:14:56 over the 3.4km.
After his medal winning performance James said: “It feels really good, a lot of hard work has gone into it so I'm really pleased I was able to pull it off today.
“I knew it was going to be a fast race, Mads Pedersen likes to push the pace the whole way, so I knew I had to get to his wash off the start. I worked quite hard getting there and maybe cashed a few too many chips but it was the right thing to do because he went at the first portage and I was the right side of the break which set the race up from there. Once you’re through the first portage clear it's a case of hanging on to the line.
“Really excited [for the long course races], I think you can't have a better start to the weekend’s racing so it gives me a lot of confidence to go out and hit the long course hard.
“It will be a similar approach in the K1, I know Mads is quick so I'll be looking for him and trying to cling onto the wash. The K2 is going to be exciting, I'm in with Harry and it's going to be a new experience for both of us. We're doing it for a good time and to pick up some experience and see what we can both learn.”
Teammate Johnson had a tightly fought race to maintain his position in the middle of the field after a strong start. He crossed the line in 18th place with a time of 0:15:57.
The short course layout for all races today consisted of three short laps and two portages over 3.4km.
Chelmsford's Melissa Johnson and Elise Montagna of Royal both took to the start line to battle it out in a straight final for the senior women's short course.
Melissa secured a promising side wash position in the lead group and managed to maintain it around lap one.
Montagna worked hard in a chasing group behind.
Hungary's Kiszli kept the pace high throughout the race and Johnson found herself chasing her down in a group in lap two.
A fast paced final portage set her up well for the final lap. Frustratingly she was squeezed outside the buoy on the final turn. Choosing to back pedal to re-navigate the buoy she unfortunately dropped out of medal contention. She ultimately finished in an admirable 8th place with a time of 0:17:30.
Speaking after her race she said: “My race was really good for the first half. I made it into the top group which I wasn't expecting and it was going better than I had thought it would. I think I did really well over the portages and made a break to catch up to third place. Annoying, I missed the last turn buoy which cost me the medal position, but I'll learn from that for the long course.
“Conditions for racing weren’t too bad today, there was a strong-ish head wind on the way up, which favoured me because I do like a head wind. It was a nice tail wind into the portage and a bit choppy, but I don't really mind that.”
Looking ahead to her long course race over the weekend she said: “I'll try to hit the start the same as I did today. I'll try and find Kiszli because I know she's going to want to keep the pace high for the first two laps. and I’ll try and make the break for the front group and just see where I slot in.”
In her international racing debut Elise showed great determination around the course gaining some fantastic racing experience. She earnt 21st place with a time 0:19:05.
After winning his heat and earning the fastest time across both heats earlier in the day (0:16:18), Nottingham's Joe Enoch was back in action for the finals of the junior men's short course.
He powered to the front of the group leading out of the start line and claimed a comfortable v wash. Fellow Brit William Short (Elmbridge) joined him on the start line after posting a fast enough time in the heats to see through to the final.
Short clung to the back of the leading group round the first lap.
A clean portaged from both athletes, saw Joe back in the water fourth and Will joining a chasing group.
The pace increased towards the end of the race causing Enoch to drop back and join teammate Short in the chase group around the final lap.
Both Brits finished within the top 10. Joe Enoch crossed the line first in 9th place with Will Short close behind in 10th. With two seconds in it, they crossed the line in with times 0:16:10 and 0:16:12 respectively.
The Junior Women’s Short Course was also a straight final with 20 boats on the start line.
The two Brits in action were Reading's Annabel Hutchinson and Kamila Sklenarova of Norwich. The girls finished in 5th and 6th place respectively.
Hutchinson had an awesome start allowing her to claim a solid position in the leading group. Sklenarova also started strong and found a v wash at the back of the leaders.
As the pace upped around the first turn in lap one the leading group split. Hutchinson found herself dropped back in the field and Sklenarova managed to overtake.
The first portage proved favourable for Annabel as she managed to regain a few places. Both Brits got back into the water within seconds of each other as they progressed into the second lap
Around lap two they joined forces in the chasing group of five to close the gap between them and the leaders.
The pace upped in the final stretch down to the finish line. Hutchinson powered to earn 5th place in 0:18:31 with Sklenarova right behind her finishing in 6th with a time of 0:18:43
Owen Chisholm (Richmond) was also representing Great Britain in the junior men's C1 long course.
He had a collision in lap one but did an exceptional job to stay up right and keep going, it caused him to lose speed and slightly drop off the leading group and eventually retire.
Paracanoe Demonstration Races
It's great to see paracanoe marathon races included at European Championships this year.
Shaun Cook (Norwich) was in action yesterday and he took home a silver medal in the men's VL2 event.
He had a strong race, leading for the majority of the 11.8km course in Poznan. His competitor Dabrowski of Poland upped the pace towards the end of the race which meant he finished second with a time of 1:16:03.
Speaking after his race he said: “It was a tight race. I managed to keep a lead until the final turn. The crosswind caught my boat and I struggled to get the nose round in time and lost my position.
“I’m loving racing marathon internationally. I'm privileged to be paddling at some amazing venues. I'm very excited for Marathon Para racing to become official next year at the World Championships. It will be amazing to be included in all of the official goings on. We will even get to hear “the final countdown” on the last lap at long last.”
You can find a full list of today's results here.
Racing continues tomorrow in Poznan with the junior and U23 women's and U23 men's long course races.
Make sure to check out the Marathon Racing Committee social media pages to follow along with the action throughout the day.
Live streams will be available on the Canoe Europe YouTube channel.