GB CANOEING PRESS RELEASE
21st August 2008
GBs Tim Brabants & Lucy Wainwright are through to the Olympic flat water racing finals
The Olympic Bronze medallist from Sydney, Great Britain’s Tim Brabants has made it through to both the Men’s K1 (kayak single) 1000m and 500m Beijing finals.
The 31 year old Doctor won his Men’s K1 1000m heat on 18th August by storming to the finish line with ease, finishing in a time of 3.27.828 followed by the Hungarian Zoltan Benko (3.29.542) and Sweden’s Markus Oscarsson (3.30.44). The performance means that Tim goes straight through to the final tomorrow (Friday). This year Tim won Gold in the European Championships in the Men’s K1 1000m. In 2007 Tim won Gold at the World Championships in the Men’s K1 1000m. At the Athens Games in 2004, he recorded the World’s Fastest Time in his qualification events and finished 5th in the final.
Relatively recently Tim has competed in the shorter distance, the Men’s K1 500m, he achieved third place in the semi final today securing his place in the 500m finals on Saturday 23rd August. Last year, Tim won Gold in the Men’s K1 500m European Championships.
In today’s women’s flat water racing, 30 year old Lucy Wainwright came second in the semi final in a time of 1.52.580, just behind Ukraine’s Osypenko – Radomska (1.51.558) and will be battling for a medal on Saturday in the final. Lucy from Nottingham, is the current 200m European Champion and although the 200m distance is not an Olympic event she will be focused on winning pushing all the way.
Unfortunately, the Olympic journey ended early for the K2 (kayak double) women, they did not make it through to their finals after a slow start of the line.
Selected results from today’s racing
Men’s K1 500m Semi final
1. New Zealand Steven Ferguson 1.42.238
2. Sweden Anders Gustafsson 1.42.09
3. Great Britain Tim Brabants 1.42.530
Women’s K1 500m Semi - final
1. Ukraine Inna Osypenko – Radomska 1.51.558
2. Great Britain Lucy Wainwright 1.52.580
3. South Africa Jennifer Hodson 1.53.209
Races to watch
Friday 22nd August Men’s K1 1000m final
Saturday 23rd August Men’s K1 500m & Women’s K1 500m
Athlete websites
Tim Brabants www.timbrabants.com
Lucy Wainwright www.lucywainwright.com
Ends
For further information please contact:
Chloe Nelson-Lawrie, BCU PR & Marketing on 0845 370 9511
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Notes to the editors:
GB Canoeing is the World Class Performance division of the British Canoe Union (BCU). It currently supports 20 UK athletes in their training and competition with the aim to win medals in significant international competitions now and within the next 4 years, particularly at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. 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). In 2008 GB Canoeing hope to go one better and claim the first ever gold medal.
The BCU was set up in 1936 to send a team to the Berlin Olympics and 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.
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. Today the BCU has a membership of over 60,000, including over 450 affiliated clubs and 145 approved centres. According to the Paddlesport Review there are an estimated 1.5 million people 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.