Day two of the European Championships at Cunovo, Bratislava, saw the British team ready and raring to go in pursuit of winning their first medals of the Championships and retaining their crowns won last year on home turf in Nottingham.
All started well with three out of the four teams making it through to the afternoons final with only the C1M team not qualifying after Greg Pitt picked up two 50 seconds penalties on the tricky final part of the course due to falling in and missing the last breakout.
With the first medals of the Championships now ready for the taking the competition was heating up along with the weather the beaming sun took temperatures to 30 degrees.
First on the course for Great Britain was the K1M team who had high hopes of retaining their title. With Olympic Silver medallist Campbell Walsh showing excellent form finishing 2nd yesterday in qualification and Huw Swetnam and Richard Hounslow wanting to make amends for their disappointment on missing out on qualifying for the semi final the team were ready to roll. Although feeling confident in their ability to win gold and delivering a storming run working fluidly together, it unravelled at the final drop where Campbell Walsh fell in and missed the last breakout resulting in 100 penalty points. With the British out Poland took the title with Germany taking the Silver and Slovenia the Bronze.
With the K1M finished the eyes turned to the K1W event, five teams went into the final and the British trio of Louise Donington, World Bronze Medallist Lizzie Neave and Olympian Fiona Pennie went through in 3rd. With the score board cleared and the girls ready to retain their crown Donington lead the team off to a strong start but the extremely tight middle section caused them to get tangled up and ended their medal hopes when Lizzie Neave slipped outside of gate 13 accruing a 50 second penalty. The German team lead by Jennifer Bongardt 2007 World Champion took the Gold with a steady and controlled run; Poland took the Silver and Slovakia the Bronze
Soon the light came shining on the British team when the European Silver medalling team from 2009 bought home the first medal of the Championships for Great Britain finishing in 3rd and claiming the Bronze medal. The Nottingham based team of Tim Baillie, Etienne Stott European Bronze medallists, Olympic Silver Medallist David Florence, Richard Hounslow, Dan Goddard and Colin Radmore came into a few difficulties through the tight gate sequence in the middle section seeing Florence and Hounslow taking the lead from Stott and Baillie, but they kept themselves composed to finish the run strongly. Sitting in the Bronze medal position with only the Slovaks to go lead by Olympic Champions the Hochschorner brothers, all the British could do was sit and wait. The Slovakian team came undone near the end of the course seeing the British C2M team winning the Bronze behind the Gold medallist Czech Republic and Silver medallists Poland.
Nick Smith C2 Coach comments on the Bronze medal:
“It’s really great for the guys; after the Silver medal last year and to come back and win Bronze it really shows the strength of the canoe class in Great Britain right now. There was a bit of drama in the middle section where David and Rich took the lead after Tim and Etienne spun out, but they all kept clear heads and Dan and Colin managed to pull back some time in the bottom part to finish strong and win the Bronze. Getting on the podium really boosts confidence within the team; we are all looking forward to tomorrows racing in the individual events.”
Rich Hounslow C2 Team paddler comments on the teams bronze medal:
“It was a bit funny really it was a difficult run with some mistakes and penalties but that is the way of team racing it is hard and it’s all about keeping a clear head and working together all the way to the finish. “
John Anderson – Performance Director comments on the day’s performance:
“I would like to congratulate the C2M team and their coach on the bronze medal, it shows that team racing in canoe slalom can at time be a strange event, you might say that being in 3rd place with the Slovak team still to come on home water, that we may have been push out, but they had a big penalty and we won the Bronze. Looking at the others teams our K1M team were well on the pace and paddling really well but unfortunately a technical error on the second to last gate it wasn’t to be for them today. The women’s kayak team came here with really high hopes of a podium finish and are bitterly disappointed that it hasn’t been there day. We are pleased to be on the podium with the C2’s and everyone is really looking to racing tomorrow.”
More information, startlists and results can be found at the official event website -
http://www.canoeslalomeuro2010.org/