No sooner had the Hasler Finals concluded, the following week the first race of the new season is underway! Elmbridge Hasler Marathon hosted by Elmbridge Canoe Club is a regional Hasler marathon race that serves as a personal and club regional qualifier for the finals. It attracts many paddlers from out of our region, 24 clubs were represented with only 9 clubs in our region.
Royal fielded a team of 28 paddlers across 9 divisions and 3 classes (K1, K2 and C2). It was a well attended race with 188 paddlers from 23 other clubs. A fair few people missing due to having a break after the Finals, Team Royal was noticeably missing some key faces, but the mood was cheerful and optimistic.
Elmbridge Canoe Club is renowned for favouring long distances, it might be the same number but it is a ‘long 21km’. And with a strong headwind on the way back the full course and middle distance paddlers were going to feel it in the second half. Overall everyone seemed happy with their performances, with a special mention to Arthur Dexter for his first race and the seniors who made a special effort to attend and race despite only arriving back from Munich the night before.
Royal pulled in quite a medal haul, with gold going to;
Jon Boyton
Henry Carter
Steve Nicolls
Harry Lear + Jack Carter (K2)
Aisling Hogan + Edie King (K2).
Commodore Tim Humphries Silver and Mike Philp + Mike Tushaw Bronze in C2.
Overall Royal Canoe Club came third on club points, which given we had the smallest team in the top four results is a very impressive result. Richmond Canoe Club won fielding 71 paddlers and obtaining a ‘perfect score’ of 240 points which is an incredible feat in such a competitive region.
It is a good start to the season for Royal Canoe Club with plenty to work on and an optimistic outlook going into the New Year.
The next big events are:
19 October 2019, Royal Canoe Clubs Paddling Challenge – The world’s oldest canoe race and one of the oldest annually awarded sporting trophies in the world.
5 January 2020, Frank Luzmore – A k2 race from Elmbridge Canoe Club to Richmond Canoe Club.
April/May (tbc) Wey Hasler Marathon – the next regional marathon race in our area.
Promotions
Steve Nicholls into 6
Aisling Hogan into 5
Edie King into 5