BRITISH CANOE UNION PRESS RELEASE
Going for Gold in the UK at the National Marathon Championships
- River Severn, at Worcester in 23rd and 24th August 2008
The key event of the season and the culmination of 12 months hard racing for many flat water racing canoeists is the “British National Open Marathon Racing Individual & Team Championships” which are being held on the River Severn at Worcester.
The Marathon Championship races have been scheduled so that the competitors can watch their friends and fellow canoeists, part of Team GB, battle for medals in Beijing.
Many elite paddlers take part in both flat water racing and marathon racing.
Olympian Anna Hemmings who is competing over 500m at the Beijing Olympics in K2 with Jessica Walker, won the 2007 Women’s National Championships in singles and doubles plus the World Marathon title in Hungary the same year.
So this UK event is a real opportunity to spot those London 2012 potentials.
Saturdays racing coincides with the day of the finals of the 500m sprint events at the Olympics. Flat water racing takes place in the same type of boat as marathon racing, the only difference being that marathon boats are lighter than their flat water racing counterparts.
All eyes will no doubt be on ex Olympian and 6 times World Champion Ivan Lawler, who will be competing to gain selection for the World Marathon Championships which are to be held in September in the Czech Republic.
The links with the Olympics in Beijing will be highlighted all weekend. Sunday’s event coincides with the closing ceremony in Beijing and the handover to London 2012 events being held in the UK. There will also be a handover flag presented to Worcester’s Mayor on Sunday at 2:30 just before the start of the Under 16 doubles races.
What
British National Open Marathon Racing Individual & Team Championships.
Date and Time
Racing Starts at 09.30hrs on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th. Racing continues all day both days. On Saturday 23rd paddlers will compete for the singles titles whilst on Sunday 24th paddlers will pair up to compete for the doubles titles.
Location
All starts and finishes will be in the area of the events site at Worcester Canoe Club near Worcester Race course and just upstream of the City’s Railway and Road Bridges. Excellent spectating opportunities exist from the Sabrina Footbridge and the banks alongside the river in this area.
Technical Information
Athletes race in both Kayaks (paddlers sit in the kayak using a paddle with a blade at either end) and Canoes (paddlers kneel in the canoe using a paddle with a single blade).
There will also be a portage for many of the competitors. This is where the paddler jumps out of the boat and runs carrying the boat before putting the boat back into the water to continue. Whilst historically portaging was to enable paddlers to get around weirs, locks or other natural obstacles “false” portages will be used on this race to enable good spectating.
Points are awarded to paddlers and the club with the most points wins the Team Championship.
Photo Opportunity
Join in with athletes supporting their Team GB friends.
Photo opportunity of London 2012 hopefuls along with ex World Champions
Andy & Tom Daniels Andy - Gold medallist in Youth Olympics 2007
Louisa Sawers World Junior Marathon Champion & Silver in Youth
Olympic Games in the flat water racing discipline (2007)
Ben Brown 4th in Senior World Marathon Championships 2006
Ivan Lawler ex Olympian and 6 x World Champion
For further information please contact:
Tamsin Phipps British Canoe Union & Canoe England on 07701 001 714
Unless otherwise stated, all images are the property of the British Canoe Union (BCU) and any copying or reproduction of them should be agreed in advance.
More information is available at
www.marathon-canoeing.org.uk
http://www.worcestercanoeclub.org.uk/nationals.html
www.worcestercanoeclub.org.uk
Notes to the editors:
Set up in 1936 to send a team to the Berlin Olympics, the British Canoe Union (BCU) is the lead body for canoeing and kayaking in the UK. In 2000 the BCU federalised to become the umbrella organisation for the Home Nation Associations in Scotland (SCA), Wales (WCA) and Northern Ireland (CANI). In England, Canoe England was set up, on a par with the other National Associations, as a division of the BCU, to support the development of canoeing in England.
Marathon Racing is Marathon racing is one of the most popular sections of canoe sport. It attracts large numbers of canoeists of all abilities and takes place on most types of water – e.g. canals, lakes, rivers, estuaries and even the sea – and throughout the whole year. Two attractive features of Marathon racing are that it caters for people of differing levels of ability from the beginner to world class international athletes and also caters for competitors of a wide age range from under 10 to over 70.
The BCU is responsible for leading and setting the overall framework for the National Associations; including representing canoeing interests through coaching, competition and campaigning for increased access to Britain’s waterways for paddlers. In the Athens Olympics, Canoeing was one of Team GB’s most successful sports with medals for Ian Wynne (Bronze), Helen Reeves (Bronze) and Campbell Walsh (Silver).
Today the BCU has a membership of over 60,000, including over 450 affiliated clubs and 145 approved centres. According to the RYA survey there are 1.5 million people who take to the water in a canoe each year. The vast majority do so under a watchful eye of one of the 11,000 BCU Qualified coaches or as part of an affiliated organisation. For more information visit: www.bcu.org.uk.