Shara Du and friends
Shara is originally from Canada but has lived in France for many years. Having paddled in the Big Ben event last year, she was enthusiastically delighted to tell all her friends about this great race and bring them all along for the London Crossing and the Challenge. There were some 15 of them, almost neatly split between the two races. Shara races all over the world and brought paddlers from all over the planet to the UK!
Most of these paddlers have competed in the Paris Crossing, so she felt it only right that the London Crossing should be added to their resume. A delightful, friendly bunch they did well in the race. Shara particularly loved paddling with her friends, seeing the city covered by the clouds. The relative silence of being on the water and paddling through Tower Bridge all made for a memorable experience.
The Big Ben Challenge unfortunately could not go ahead for Health and Safety issues, but those of Shara’ s friends who were registered were able to paddle in the opposite direction and see a completely different view of the Thames, it’ s landmarks and bridges.
There are dreams of the London Crossing becoming as big as the Paris race, not just from Shara and her friends, but from organisers and volunteers alike.
Shara took the win for the ladies on the 12’ 6” and team mates Sébastien Le Meaux and Apehau Tching Piou took the fastest time on the day on their Three Bay tandem paddleboard. We will leave you to check out these three paddlers – they have some great and incredible paddles behind them, world records and all!
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