Paddlers out in force for Stone mini slaloms

You may have noticed how busy Stafford and Stone Canoe Club has been on several recent Sundays down on the River Trent at Westbridge Park.

Since the 1970s the Club has organised a series of races as a pre-season warm up. These events are handicapped to give paddlers of all abilities a chance of winning.

This year’s attendance at the Mini Slaloms has been unprecedented, partly due to mild weather and also to good water levels at Stone. However, numbers were slightly down for the third race this weekend due to England Development Squads training at the Olympic Course in Lee Valley in preparation for GB Selection Races in March. The numbers were, however, increased slightly by the Northern Ireland Development Team who came across after their training camp in Nottingham was abandoned due to high water levels.

Jasmine Royle was winning after first runs but could not sustain the lead and the order changed after second runs and the eventual winner of the third race was Jake Cochrane- Northern Ireland, with Jasmine Royle- Stafford and Stone/Hydra Sport in second and Jessica Magson, also Stafford and Stone, in third. Fastest paddler of the day was James Bailey, also from the home club

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A ranking list is calculated at the end of the third race to select 10 boats to compete in a final to determine the winner of the series. Stafford and Stone paddlers made up 8 of the ten places in the final with Chloé Ellerton of Alleynes Academy in the lead only one point ahead of Jessica Magson from Walton Priory. Top ranked paddlers in the final included Rob Holdway, Pete Willett and James Bailey, all capable of putting down very competitive runs.

The pressure on these young paddlers shows when they are faced with racing against senior athletes and Chloé was unable to hold her nerve and hit 5 gates, putting her out of contention. The eventual winner of the series was nationally ranked number 2 James Bailey, with Jessica Magson and Ocean Davis-Haswell tying for second place.

The race was also designated as a National Ranking Division 4 race and local paddlers Ocean Davis-Haswell, Chloe Burrows and Tom Sillince were all promoted as a result of their performance on the day.

Full results are available on the Stafford & Stone Canoe Club website