Emma Wiggs MBE and Charlotte Henshaw MBE won world titles on day two of the paracanoe World Championships, whilst Dave Phillipson and Hope Gordon powered to silver in Szeged.
It was yet another impressive international performance from Paralympic Champion Emma Wiggs, who battled with Canada's Hennessy for top spot.
It was a great tussle between the pair, but the 12-time World Champion saw off her competitor in the final 50 metres to win gold in a time of 58.69.
Wiggs said:
“I'm delighted to win gold. The run was really good and went to plan. I was pleased to get the win and this gold is really for everyone at home this year. Delighted.
“This is a great benchmark for the season. It's a big year with Paris so we'll get ready for selection and then hopefully look ahead to the rest of the summer.
“It's an amazing team to be part of. I'm so excited to see what we can bring as a team in Paris in a few months time.”
A Tokyo Paralympic bronze medallist in the event, Jeanette Chippington OBE narrowly missed out on joining Wiggs on the podium, finishing fourth and just half a second off the top three.
Dave Phillipson won silver as he contested the gripping KL2 men's final to get the medal-haul underway for Britain.
Just 0.3 seconds separated second to sixth as Dave went up against a stacked field, but the 35-year-old came out on top to win the silver behind Australia's McGrath, in a time of 43.60.
Dave's achievement also secures Britain the men's KL2 boat quota place ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games this summer.
Delighted to win both the medal and the quota place, Phillipson said:
“I'm buzzing to win silver. It was a really tough final, with eight athletes going for medals. To come off the back of winning my heat yesterday, I really wanted that medal.
“All the hard work I put in over the winter came through there, I want to thank all the support from everyone back home and the team.
“I had extra pressure on me this race after missing out on last year's World Championships final, so to win the medal and secure the British boat quota place for Paris, I'm over the moon.
“I put everything into it and it really paid off.”
It was neck and neck between Charlotte Henshaw MBE and Hope Gordon as the British duo claimed gold and silver in the women's VL3 final.
With the event making its debut at the Paralympic Games this summer, the pair stormed ahead of the field to set up a thrilling British showdown.
It was 2022 World Champion Henshaw who reclaimed the title ahead of 2023 World Champion Gordon, with a tight 0.11 seconds between them.
Henshaw said:
“What a great race that was and what a showcase of the new Paralympic event for Paris.
“Myself and Hope have had some real battles over the years and it's pleasing to see that is continuing.
“You see it across the board in British paracanoe. We have strength in depth and it means you can't rest up at national races as we've got the best in the world against us.
“When the VL3 came in a few years ago, we were really excited about it. I'm so happy and proud to win gold today.”
On winning her silver, Gordon added:
“Really happy to be on the podium again. Charlotte and I really wanted those top two spots.
“My start wasn’t great, but I was delighted to come back and win the silver and have two British athletes on the podium.”
The tightest of margins separated Ed Clifton (Chelmsford) from the A Final of the men's VL2.
Going in search of the Paralympic boat quota place for Paris 2024, Clifton battled against Italian paddler Ciuesta for a place in the final.
Unfortunately, the 38-year-old was 0.008 seconds the wrong side of the photo finish, but will line up in tomorrow's B Final still looking to secure the British boat for the summer Games.
Paralympic bronze medallist Stuart Wood and 2023 World silver medallist Jack Eyers were drawn in the same stacked semi-final of the men's VL3.
The two Brits went head-to-head with Curtis McGrath (Australia) and Peter Cowan (New Zealand) with the top three progressing to the A Final tomorrow.
A great battle between the top four, it was Wood who pipped third spot ahead of Eyers in a time of 52.67 to progress to the A Final, whilst under half a second, behind Eyers finished in fourth and will take on the B Final tomorrow.
Friday also saw the canoe sprint World Cup 1 get underway off the back of the European Olympic Qualifiers.
Emily Lewis (Worcester) will contest the women's K1 200m A Final as she took to the Hungarian waters for the first time this week.
A confident heats where she finished second in a time of 40.84, Lewis was back in semi-final action for the last race of the day to come second and set up her A Final tomorrow.
She said: “I'm really pleased with that. I love the 200m, it's such a fun race. It's over in a split second and you're going max out from start to finish.
“It's nice to get the 200m down before the 500m tomorrow. It gives me a nice confidence boost that I can use my speed. I'm out here trying to do my best and get some more race practice, and learn something from each race.”
Deborah Kerr (Anker Valley) and Emma Russell (Chelmsford) were back in women's K2 500m action, and the pair will contest the B Final tomorrow.
Finishing fourth in their heat, the pair returned for the semi-finals, where they placed fifth and just half a second off the top three needed to race the A Final.
Off the back of their first international outing as a crew at the European Olympic Qualifiers, James Russell (Nottingham) and Trevor Thomson (Ealing) were back in the K2 500m.
A solid run to finish fifth in their to take a semi-final place, the pair gained more international exposure as they placed eighth in a time of 1:34.80 which means they will race tomorrow's C Final.
Jeanette Chippington was back on course for the afternoon session as she took on the women's KL1 heats.
The Rio Paralympic Champion put down a strong performance to qualify directly into tomorrow's A Final, finishing third in 58.82.
Laura Sugar dominated her KL3 heat as she took on her first race of the 2024 season.
A great start was only followed by further distance between Sugar and the rest of the field, as she won the heat to qualify directly into tomorrow’s A Final.
It was a tighter race for Hope Gordon as she returned for her KL3 heat, but much like Sugar she secured a direct place for tomorrow's A Final, after fending off the late charge from German athlete Felicia Laberer, with half a second splitting the pair.
After missing all of the 2023 season through injury, Tokyo bronze medallist Rob Oliver was in men's KL3 action.
It was a great return from Rob who faced up against Juan Antonio Valle (Spain), as he came second in his heat in a time of 42.02, the second quickest time of all the heats.
Jonny Young was also in action off the back of an extremely successful 2023 season, where he won two gold and a World Champs silver.
He too finished second in his heat, meaning both he and Oliver secured their places in tomorrow's semi-finals.
The full results and start list can be found here
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