SWISS international wild water racing paddler Alistair Smortit made his debut for The Sharks, who train in Harefield, in the 3k men’s kayak singles at Barrow-on-Soar on Saturday.

Hillingdon Gazette – 19th November 2016

Smortit, who is currently studying in Britain, made an instant impact by placing third overall, and first U23, in a time of 15:44 mins, while GB U23 international Grant Underwood came ninth overall and second U23 in 16:44. James Reed (19:23) was 20th overall and fourth master over 35, while 13-year-old Joel Gunnery (19:48), entering only his second wild water race, was 22nd overall and third U16 paddler.

Team manager Neal Underwood said:

“Having Alistair racing for us shows our ambition to be the best. We now have two international racers in our team and that is great, not just for results, but it also helps bring in younger paddlers like Joel, who have someone to learn from. It also shows that we are regarded as a club worth paddling for. We need more paddlers coming through to race at entry level and I am confident that we will have a very large and successful team over the next few months.”