River Racing Back at Harefield

November 30th marked the return of Wild Water Racing to Harefield when The Sharks hosted the first Regional Ranking WWR at Harefield for a while and although we need to grow the event, it was a great day of fun and racing for those who did turn up!

Five different clubs had paddlers racing and seven Sharks were racing, including a new particpant.

Men’s K1

The biggest class at the event with seven paddlers, and being won by our own Grant Underwood, who completed the 500 metre course in 2 minutes and 54.35 seconds on his first run, but even the best of paddlers have upsets and he did not finish his second run.

Second place and first V60 went to Pete Atkinson form Proteus Canoe Club his time was 2:55.66.

Meridian’s Malcolm Blowers (V55) took third place, taking 3:07.22, he paddled the course in a Wavehopper .

Another Shark, Ivijah Campbell-Bryan was the first Junior (J14) and was fourth over all, with a time of 3:08.16.

Another paddler over 60 came in fifth, Rod Grundy, the Lee Valley Paddler taking 3:18.88.

Under-12 Maximilian Arbuzov took sixth place for The Sharks, paddling a slalom boat down the course in 5:14.13.

The Youngest paddler of the day was Shark Kiyan Zand Lashani at just 7-years-old, he came seventh and finished in a time of 5:39.97.

Ladies’ K1

The winning time was 3:09.41 for V45, Kate Kent of Proteus

V35, Alexandra Judge from Bishops Stortford Canoe Club took second place in a time of 3:16.62.

In Third place was Shark Paddler, Carmel Lord who raced in a slalom boat, taking 5:29.10

Ladies’ C1

Kate Kent also raced in Canoe Singles and finished in a time of 3:09.21

Men’s C2

Two Shark crews raced in the Men’s C2 event. In First Place was Grant Underwood and Nicolas Bozic, with a time of 2:57.07.

With Grant Underwood and Kiyan Zand Lashani taking 5:03.21

Mixed Canoe Doubles

Sybille Marchese, making her first appearance in competitive canoeing partnered Grant Underwood, the finished in a time of 3:58.81.

Full results and rankings are available on the Wild Water Racing Website. Our thanks to the officials who staffed and ran the event and to those paddlers who raced, hopefully see you all again soon.

The Shark Wild Water Racing Team will next be in action at Barrow on Saturday 7th December, (please not change of time, this race now starts at 10am) why not join us for some fun racing on the 3k Soar River near Loughborough. For more information call/text 07951 770241 or email canoeing@thesharks.org.uk.

The next race at Harefield will be on Sunday 15th December, with our Cedric Avery Mini-Marathon.

Want to know more about Wild Water Racing or The Sharks? Then get in touch call or text us on 07951 770241 or email canoeing@thesharks.org.uk. You don’t need any special equipment or prior experience. New members, or returning paddlers always welcome of any age! Let the fun begin.

Published 1st December 2024