Five members of Stafford and Stone Canoe Club have been selected for the 2015 senior Great Britain canoe slalom squad, a huge step in the journey to the Rio Olympic Games next year.
Adam Burgess, Greg Pitt, Joe Clarke, Lizzie Neave and Mark Proctor (with Etienne Stott) are all maintaining the canoe club’s long record of international representation with home-grown talent.
Canoe slalom selection to gain a place in the 2015 Great Britain Team proved to be an enthralling showdown between the country’s top paddlers. Stafford and Stone Canoe Club paddlers were contesting team places in all five race categories – Men’s and Women’s Kayak (K1M & K1W), Men’s and Women’s Canadian Singles (C1M & C1W) and Men’s Canadian Doubles (C2).
The three-day selection series was held over the Easter weekend on the Olympic Course at Lee Valley. On each day paddlers completed two runs on the course with the better run to count. In each category three team places were available, although silver medal winning performances at the 2014 World Championships by Mallory Franklin (C1W) and Fiona Pennie (K1W) had secured pre-selection to the 2015 team.
Determination to gain a place in this year’s GB Team was intense, with the 2015 World Championships to be hosted by Great Britain at Lee Valley in September. The selected team will also contest the European Championships at Leipzig in May and the five-race World Cup Series held between June and August.
Proceedings commenced with C1W and three main contenders were chasing the two available team places. Stafford and Stone’s Jazz Royle missed out on a place by just one second but took some consolation in knowing she came so near and had paddled so well. Jazz had no time to dwell on it as she was straight off to Brazil to compete in the under-23 World Championships.
In the C1M category, Adam Burgess made the GB senior team for the first time, following his under-23 GB selection in March. Adam is also currently competing in Brazil.
Joe Clarke has been undisputed GB number one for K1M in both 2013 and 2014, and entered the race as clear favourite. Although pushed close by Richard Hounslow, who represented Team GB at London 2012, Clarke took the race wins on days one and two with Hounslow claiming victory on day three. Stafford and Stone’s James Bailey and Tom Brady just missed out on third place.
Lizzie Neave, Stafford and Stone’s London 2012 Olympian, was seeking to regain her GB team place following a lengthy period of injury which had resulted in her missing most of the 2014 season. Fiona Pennie’s pre-selection meant there were just two available team places, and Lizzie came good to take her place back in the senior squad.
The C2 category only had five boats competing but it was the race that was perhaps being most looked forward to. Following the retirement of Stott’s gold medal partner Tim Baillie, he formed a new pairing last year with Stafford and Stone’s GB C1 paddler Mark Proctor. The crew are still relatively new but progress to date has been exceptional. Over the three days Florence and Hounslow dominated the racing but Proctor and Stott pushed through in second place. Adam Burgess, weary from competing in the C1M category each morning, nevertheless also carried a paddler’s perspective to each race as he challenged for a second team place with partner Greg Pitt. They claimed second place and, of course, two team places for Burgess.
Carole McGranachan, mother of Adam Burgess, one of many parents present at the selection series sharing in the tensions, the joy and the heartbreak, summed up the racing,
“This was a really tough selection,” she said. “So few boats on the start line but all capable of smashing it, the future is there for any of those boats that grab it, but it is tough, it’s dedication and really hard work and focus, overcoming the setbacks that do come along. Total respect for all on that start line this weekend.”
After an exciting weekend of close racing, Paul Ratcliffe, British Canoeing Slalom Head Coach, said: “We are leaving here with one of the strongest canoe slalom teams we have ever had, on the back of the most competitive selection series I have been involved with. Athletes, coaches and support staff can all be proud of what they have achieved this weekend. Our job now is to go away and prepare this team to deliver their best performances at our home World Championships in September, which is a key milestone for us on the road to Rio. Our first international test will be at the European Championships in Germany in the last weekend in May.”
