Iain McCarthy - in Poland by Claire McKibben
Will Keetley - APP London
YouTube : Supjunkie paddleboarding
After many exciting heats and finals , with board and paddle clashes , falls , and a couple of race reviews , the winners were ; Connor , Rai Taguchi , Tom Auber , Clement Colmas and Daniel Hasulyo and for the women ; April Zilg , Espe Barreras , Caroline Kuntzel , Juliette Duhaime and Choi Ji Won . Blue finished a credible 13th , with Will and Hector advancing well in their heats .
Sonya Brotherton and Steve Lynn in Poland
Distance race down the Thames
The start was narrow , with all the competitors going off at once , upstream for a kilometre , a sharp turn around a bridge stanchion and relatively flat waters for 4km or so . So those with flat water boards had the advantage then but not for long , with the rest of the course becoming like the sea with waves and wake causing a few spills . Four paddlers in the men ’ s category led the pack . As they passed under the beautiful Tower Bridge , Clement Colmas took the title , closely followed by Arthur Arutkin , Connor Baxter , Daniel Hasulyo and Tom Abur .
Blue finished just outside the top ten in 11th , with Hector and Will enjoying and learning from the challenging conditions and experience .
The tables were turned for the ladies ’ race , with Espe taking the win , followed by April , Juliette , Holly and Choi – a fabulous fourth place for Holly Pye !
Directly after the distance race and as a mark of respect for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II , there was a ceremonial paddle out with the laying of flowers .
So overall , champions were crowned , with Connor and Espe gaining those honours – Holly did us proud with a fifth overall and Molly came seventh . Blue was fourteenth overall , Hector seventeenth and Will nineteenth – all learning so , so much from this international racing – congratulations to them all .
BIG shout outs to the other UK paddlers who came and got stuck into the Open class ( open to all ), with special mention to Bruce Ironsmith , who WON the sprints and Karen Greener , who came third in the distance .
Both events provided terrific opportunities for all our UK paddlers with some notable results from the likes of Marie , who is still winning medals all these years down the line . Sarah Perkins came of age quite literally to bring home two medals from Poland – congratulations to all the paddlers . However , I think the overriding feeling was the joy of being in a team or family of like-minded SUP racers – we applaud you all and very much look forward to watching you in 2023 !
Hector Jessel - APP London