Words: Kerry Christie and Lucy Guest
Photo: Alan Edwards
Following the first round of selections at Holme Pierrepont two weeks ago, the second round of selections took place on the River Tay in Grandtully, Scotland over the weekend.
Selection always turns up the heat, resulting in some very exciting racing over the sprint and classic distances.
Saturday saw the sprint races taking place from 50 metres above the main fall in Grandtully. It was a frosty and chilly start to the day, but the sun made an appearance which soon warmed things up.
Sprint races comprise of two timed runs, with the best result giving the final scores.
The first runs saw Kerry Christie take an uncharacteristic lead in the first runs, closely followed by Katie Pocklington just 14 hundredths of a second behind.
Jacob Holmes, a renowned sprint specialist and ex-Scottish team slalom paddler, took the lead from Alex Sheppy who was just three hundredths of a second behind. With such tight margins pressure was on for the second runs.
Second runs saw Kerry Christie crumbling under the pressure from Katie, and not improving her first run time. With Katie narrowing the margin to just 10 hundredths of a second and Laura Milne taking third place. Iona Patrick and Ciara Maloney gave solid performances to finish first Under 18 and Under 16 respectively.
Alex Sheppy finding form with an outstanding run, proving true mastery on the white water, improved his first run time by almost a whole second, to take a clear lead from Jacob Holmes. Huw Singleton finished third and was also first under 18.
In women's C1, Emily Maclean took a surprise win from Molly Sandercock.
Andrew Crowhurst, in the men's C1, dominated the field with a convincing win from Calum McDonald who had an excellent run down.
There was excitement in Men's C2 when Holmes and Jeffries took an unexpected swim just above the finish. After regaining their composure, they finished just 12 hundredths of a second behind the winning crew of Dean and Crowhurst.
Christie and Christie, in the Women's C2, took the win from Milne and Dilai.
Saturday's results really mixed up the points table for those seeking selection, putting the pressure on some for the final classic selection race.
Sunday dawned as a cool, misty, wet morning with a slight headwind. The classic course at Grandtully is a true test of athletic ability, endurance and wild water skill. With still pools, big waves, shingly rapids and technical sections, this course is a racers favourite.
The men's racing was super tight, with a surprise return to form from Nick Boreham, who took a narrow victory.
Huw Singleton came in second, just 3.2 seconds in front of Leon Tomlinson who was on the right side of 0.09 second, three competitor tussle for third.
In the women's race, Kerry Christie took the win from Lucy Guest in second and Emma Christie in third.
In women's C1, the results switched around with Molly Sandercock taking the win from Emily Maclean.
In Men's C1, Andrew Crowhurst took the win again from Calum McDonald.
Learning from their mistakes of the previous day, in the Men's C2, Holmes and Jeffries took the win from Dean and Crowhurst.
In Women's C2, Christie and Christie took the win from Milne and Dilai.
Jamie Christie commented after the race:
“It's brilliant to see such tight and competitive racing, I think we have a really promising international season ahead of us and we are hopeful of some exciting junior boys results and big improvements in the men's under 23 racing.
“It's nice to see the women closing the gap to the Under 23 gold and bronze medallists last year. I'm really excited to see how they all perform through the international season.”
For the weekends full results see: https://www.wildwater.org.uk/results/#10-176-2024
There are photos available on the Wild Water Racing for Fun Facebook page.