Monday 9th October saw the first day of the 2023 ICF Kayak Freestyle World Championships, taking place in Columbus, Georgia, USA. And with it, the start of the British medal haul.
The squirt discipline kicked off the event with a day at ‘Love Triangle'. Kicking off the paddling was GB's Layla Al-Riyami, who laid down 2 fantastic rides to progress through to the women's semi finals. Joining her was her teammates Ottie Robinson-Shaw and Tamsyn McConchie. Unfortunately, Becky Green just missed the cut by the smallest of margins.
Next up was the men's prelims, with multi-worlds medalist Alex Edwards kicking the Brits off. His classic style of surface wizardry, coupled with some nice mystery moves booked his place in the semi final. Laurence Reading, on his international debut, managed to put enough points on the board to come in 10th place, scraping his way into the semi final. Finally, David Rogers showed his experience by laying down two solid rides, and booking his semi final place.
Semi finals were right around the corner, with the format shifting to the best run of two counting. All three GB women were in the second semi final, so knew the scores they needed to make to be in the final. First up was Layla, who at 17 years old, was one of the youngest out there. Under the pressure of needing to perform, she pulled it out the bag on her second ride, making her first international final. Her smile was unstoppable. Both Tamsyn and Ottie laid down some impressively technical moves to make sure they were joining Layla in the final.
The men's semi final was close, and not without drama. Laurence and David were in the first semi final, trying to lay down a marker for those in the second. Laurence made a very respectable 10th position, missing out on the finals. However, David laid down a score that would stand the test of the second semi final, qualifying him for the final. Alex went in the second semi final as he had qualified in third. Unfortunately, some huge mystery moves from the Americans, and the impressive run from David, put the finals just out of reach for Alex.
The finals were a spectacle. In the womens we saw a huge contrast in styles between the Brits and Rose Wall of the USA. Ottie, Tamsyn, and Layla all showed an amazing display of surface tricks backed up by a mystery move multiplier. Layla finished in a very well deserved 5th position. Tamsyn's tight and technical surface moves lifted her to a third place finish and bronze medal. Ottie managed to perform a stunning routine and solid two mystery moves to post a score of 1600, landing her in silver medal position. It was the hugely impressive mystery move from USA's Rose wall that shot her to gold, with 1800 points.
Rounding off the day was the men’s final, starring David Rogers (on his 30th birthday!). David's runs improved from run to run, with his third coming in at 1193. However, the American’s showed their strength in squirt by locking out the podium with Clay Wright in 3rd, Andrew Grizzell in 2nd, and Taft Sibley in 1st. A respectable 4th place finish for David, not bad for his 30th birthday.
For the full results, and to watch all the action back check out the ICF website.