The junior women long course opened the racing today. Sienna Payne (Chelmsford) and Kamila Sklenarova (Norwich) took to the start line to race over 19 km.
Payne impressively navigated the race to earn 4th place, narrowly missing out on a medal. Sklenarova was back on the water for the long course distance and managed to match the 6th place position she earnt yesterday on the short course.
Two large groups formed off the line in the junior women’s race. Kamila was able to secure a good position as the groups merged and Sienna was also able to stick with the large lead group that formed.
After the top turn of lap one the pace upped and the large lead group, that included both Brits, were able to lengthen the gap between them and the rest of the field.
After the first portage, Sienna joined forces with three other nations to break away. It didn't quite stick around lap three, but after a clean and fast second portage from Payne, she was first back into the water and the attempt to break away as a group of four stuck in lap four.
Kamila sat comfortably around the 6th/7th positions in the backend of the race. She paddled as a duo with Hungarian Kmetyo around the last long lap.
The Danish and Portuguese boats broke away to lead after the final portage. Sienna battled for the third place finish but it wasn't meant to be. She earnt 4th with a time of 1:38:06.
Kamila earnt 6th place with a time of 1:39:07
Speaking after her race Payne said:
“My race was a much greater success than last year, mostly due to the lack of falling in and the actual completion this year.”
“I think I recovered my rough start pretty well, and was happy with my movement and positioning on the washes and into the portages. I do wish my arms didn’t feel like lead blocks after the final portage and down the last 200m but in fairness 200s have never been my strong suit so I’d say I’m fairly impressed with myself and happy with my result and awesomeness despite just missing the medal.”
It was a tightly fought long course race for Harry Freeland of Elmbridge. He was 15th across the line in the U23 men's race in Poznan today.
Freeland has had great success racing on the international stage as a junior. This was his first year in the U23 age category and he put on a quality show to earn a respectable mid-field finish.
He joined the large lead group off the line and maintained the position around the opening laps.
As the first portage split up the group, he pushed hard to maintain contact.
It was a fast paced race and Freeland ultimately dropped back to a mid field chasing group as the race progressed. He completed the 26.2km course in a solid time of 2:06:30.
Exeter's Katie Brookes was representing Great Britain in the U23 women's long course.
It was fast out the blocks for the Brit. She worked hard to cling to the back of the chase group around lap one.
She looked strong in the mid field coming out of the first portage, but it was a tough race that saw her paddling solo for the majority of the 22.6km course.
Brookes put on a dedicated performance to finish in 13th, bringing it home under the two hour mark in 1:59:27.
Richmond's Owen Chisholm was also back in action today. He had an impressive race finishing in 6th as junior racing up in the U23 long course category. He took on the 19km course and completed it in 1:40:23.
Chisholm had a strong start and joined forces with Kunass of Latvia to paddle around the majority of the course.
He had a number of fast portages which benefited his race. Running over 110m plus pontoon length, Chisholm posted a top three times with a 49 second run on one of the portages.
After heartbreak of having to retire yesterday in the junior short course, he showed great determination to claim a solid mid field result in the U23 age group.
Paracanoe Demonstration Races
Three more Brits were in action for the Paracanoe Demonstration races today.
The KL2 and KL3 races combined on the start line which saw Jonathan White (Exeter), Tim Lodge (Wey) and William Towler (Norwich) take on 11.8km.
It was a great start for Lodge, who led off the start line. He broke away with Austria's Swoboda from the KL2 class. They worked hard as a pair for the majority of the race until Tim made a break for it on the last lap and claimed gold in the men's KL3 race with a time of 1:01:18.
Will was also competing in the KL3 class for his international racing debut. He did a tremendous job out on the water and finished the course in 4th with a time of 1:26:48
Jon secured a superb silver in the men's KL2 race. It was a long and dedicated solo paddle around the three large laps and one final small lap for the Exeter athlete. He took home the silver with a time of 1:11:03
The trio all reflected on their racing and participation at the event.
Lodge said: “I'm so grateful for this wonderful sport of ours giving us freedom on the water. Getting first place today is the icing on the cake. Thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey. I'm truly grateful to you all. Big love.”
White shared his thoughts on his race: “It went as expected. It was hard for someone who's just done six weeks of sprint training.”
Towler added: “It was a good race and a great personal achievement. It was a satisfying culmination of a lot of training and effort.”
![Image of Paracanoe team at the 2024 Marathon European Championships](https://paddleuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Untitled-design-64-1024x576.jpg)
You can find a full list of today's results here.
Racing continues tomorrow in Poznan with more long course action and the first British K2 takes to the water.
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.