Rachel Cawthorn makes history by winning double Bronze at Sprint Racing European Championships
Twenty year old sprint racing kayaker Rachel Cawthorn has just got stronger and stronger this season, demonstrating her potential as a real contender in the London 2012 Olympics.
Today Cawthorn, from Guilford, won a Bronze medal, the first ever medal for Great Britain in the Women’s 500m, at the European Championships held in Brandenburg, Germany 26 -28 June. Said Cawthorn, who looked completely stunned after racing,
“That was such a surprise, I just can’t believe it. I went a bit harder off the start, followed my race plan and it went perfectly. It’s such a surprise.”
It’s a fantastic result for Cawthorn, an ex swimmer by childhood, who only stepped in a kayak at the age of 15 in May 2004. Coach Miklos Simon was quite speechless, “It’s amazing,” he repeated over and over.
Cawthorn’s medal in the individual Women’s K1 (kayak single) 500m event follows a Bronze medal in the Women’s K4 (kayak quadruple) 200m event on Friday, the first medal for a K4 crew boat at a major international competition.
Rachel also won a Gold and Silver medal at World Cup 2 in Poznan earlier this year.
All the members of the Great Britain canoeing squad also stepped up to be counted today. The Women’s K2 (kayak double) of Lani Belcher and Olympian Lucy Wainwright took a 5th place in the 500m which could have been a 3rd had the race been over 510 metres, less than half a second keeping them off the winners.
The Women’s K4 (kayak quadruple) of Jessica Walker, Rachel Cawthorn, Hayleigh Mason and Louisa Sawers were less than 1.5 seconds off a silver medal.
In the Men’s K1 (kayak single) Ed McKeever stepped up to the mark too by winning the B final to achieve a European ranking of 10th and an opportunity to race in the World Championships later this year. James Train had also had a good day on the water with a 5th place in Men’s C1 500m B final (14th overall).
Yesterday, the Men’s K4 crew also achieved a personal best for GB, coming 7th in the 1000m A final.
Men’s K4 1000m crew Left to right Stuart Hastings, Andy Daniels, Paul Wycherley and Ben Farrell
Great Britain’s, Olympic and World Champion, Dr Tim Brabants was not present to defend his Men’s K1 European Championship title, as he is taking a year out from competition to concentrate on his medical career, but he had these words of support for his K4 colleagues,
“The K4 Men have done brilliantly. It’s fantastic to see them stepping up to the mark and making the final at a major championships. Hopefully this will give them the confidence and belief to continue on a successful path.”
In the Men’s K1 500m event, Tim Brabants relinquished his 2008 crown to Anders Gustaffson (Swe) who lead Ronald Rauhe (Ger) over the line.
GB Canoeing's Performance Director John Anderson said,
“This is an all around very solid performance by the whole team. With Rachel now performing in a world's best field, all of the women’s squad finishing in the top 5 and the men breaking through (7th K4 1000m and 10th K1 500m) we are further forward in the first year of the Olympic cycle than we hoped to be. This is really inspiring for GB canoeing'.
The team will now be very much looking forward to the World Championships in August.
Women’s K1 (kayak single) 500m
1. Kovacs (Hun) 1.49.6
2. Wagner Augustin (Ger) 1.49.8
3. R Cawthorn (GBR) 1.51.6
Women’s K2 (kayak double) 500m
1. Szabo / Kozak (Hun) 1.39.9
2. Kmetova/ Kohlova (SVK) 1.41.0
3. Fischer / Weber (Ger) 1.41.5
5 Belcher/ Wainwright (GBR) 1.42.0
Women’s K4 (kayak quadruple) 500m
1. GER 1.31.23
2. HUN 1.33.1
3. POL 1.33.4
5. GBR 1.34.4
Men’s K1 (kayak single) 500m
1. Gustaffson (Swe) 1.35.8
2. R Rauhe (Ger) 1.36.2
3. Rhyakov (Rus) 1.36.8
Men’s K1 (kayak single) 500m 'B' final
1. Ed McKeever (GBR) 1.40.4
Men’s K4 (kayak quadruple) 1000m
1. BLR 2.54.5
2. SVK 2.56.3
3.CZE 2.56.7
7. GBR 2.59.9
ENDS
Athlete websites;
www.paulwycherley.com
www.lucywainwright.com
www.timbrabants.com
Official results website - http://www.kanuem2009.de/
Report after the semi - finals can be viewed here -
http://www.bcu.org.uk/news/cawthorn-through-to-sprint-euro-finals
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