Another fun event at Harefield

The Sharks Division 4 and Open slalom at Harefield was a great event , but would have benefitted form a few more paddlers. Many thanks to those who did paddle, and especially to those who helped run the event.

As always the Sun shines on the Shark Slalom, which this year took place in April as the end of the season’s fixtures are getting crowded.

In keeping with last year’s format we had kayaks in the morning and canoes in the afternoon.

Liah Boyle was second in the Women’s Division 4 K1 race, just beaten by Eve Burgess-Chaffe from Lee Valley Paddlers.

Lee Valley had a clean sweep of the top 4 places in the Men’s Division 4 K1 event, with Shay Heart and Cally De Silva gaining promotion. New Shark paddler Aaron Lomas came 5th with Madhav Gadhvi coming 7th.

In the Men’s Open Kayak race, experienced but new to The Sarks, Danial Lomas took first place, holding off Lee Valley’s Chris Wood, Alex Aldred was third and Rick Moore 4th, in what was a fairly tight race at the top. Neal Underwood was 5th, Aditya Ravichander 6th and Joe Pawley 7th.

Jasmin Uhlhorn took the Ladies Open K1 event from fellow Shark Tasmin Khatra.

The Division 4 C1 Men’s prize went to Aditya Ravichander, who also won the British Canoeing Prize for the best combined junior C1 and K1 paddler.

The Women’s C1 event was won by Jasmin Uhlhorn.

In the C2 event it was all about the Sharks, winning the Men’s event for the second year running was Rick Moore and Alex Aldred, with father and son pairing Aaron Lomas and Daniel Lomas coming second. Rick Moore also partnered Aditya Ravichander to take third place.

The mixed event saw Jasmin Uhlhorn and Neal Underwood take first place, from Liah Boyle and Neal Underwood, with Liah and Rick coming third.

The mixed event saw Jasmin Uhlhorn and Neal Underwood take first place, from Liah Boyle and Neal Underwood, with Liah and Rick coming third.

Jasmin Uhlhorn and Liah Boyle won the Women’s event.

The Essence of Irish trophy for the best over all performance in kayaks and Canoes was won by Aditya Ravichander.

A very big thank you to everybody who made this event possible: the Clancy Group for the loan or their field and providing toilet facilities; Canal and River Trust; the Coy Carp; British Canoeing; Rick Moore, who not only organised the event but does so much behind the scenes to keep the Shark Slalom Team going. To all the competitors, parents and coaches, who make the sport possible.

Published 29th April 2023