Stone canoeist Joe Clarke has made the canoe slalom GB under-23 team after impressing at the selection races in Nottingham on 9th and 10th April.
Joe, aged 18 and a member of Stafford and Stone Canoe Club, took part in the races at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham.
Here’s Joe’s report for A Little Bit of Stone:
I felt confident that training was going well but I knew it was going to be difficult this year because I was moving up into the U23 category to compete with athletes ranging from 18-23. This was my first year as an U23 athlete so making the GBR U23 team is an even greater achievement.
There was very tight racing the K1M category with 1st-4th place being separated by around 0.7 seconds in the second of three races. This meant any penalties incurred were very costly.
I am the youngest person that has been selected for the GBR U23 team, which later in the year will be racing in the Junior & U23 European Championships in Banja Luka in Bosnia where I will be competing against the best athletes in this age range from all over Europe which I am very excited about!
The Junior and European championships will take place from 14th to 17th of July where I will hope to continue my success in the individual event and in the team event with Joe Morley and Joe Coombs.
Read more about Joe’s attempts to make the London 2012 Olympics.
