Bishop’s Stortford Canoe Club come fourth at Norwich Hasler Marathon on River Yare at Whitlingham Country Park
Bishop’s Stortford Canoe Club’s hopes of reaching the National Hasler Finals are hanging in the balance after they finished fourth at the Norwich Hasler Marathon.
Only the top three will qualify from the Eastern region and Stortford are tied with Leighton Buzzard for third place with two rounds remaining.
Stortford took a 25-strong squad to the River Yare at Whitlingham Country Park and their most notable performances came on the 6.5km course.
In Division Seven, Robert Gough got a good start amongst a large field of 19 paddlers, quickly securing second place and holding it against all challengers to win the silver medal.
Gough, who was one of the club’s stars as a junior, only came back to the sport last autumn after a long absence and is rapidly regaining his earlier form. His time of 36min 46sec earned him promotion to Division Six, so he will be tackling significantly longer distances in future.
Stortford’s juniors took the gold medals in both Division Nine races. Jamie Winstanley clocked an excellent time of 39:27 in singles while the doubles pairing of Oliver Klumpler and Rupert Kirtland registered 38:47. All three boys have been promoted to Division Eight.
There were silver medals for Jacqueline Cayford and David Cayford in Division Seven doubles (37:05) and bronze for Petr Luksan and Kevin Short in Division Nine doubles (43:44).
Two of Stortford’s team competed over the longest course - 19.5 km - with four gruelling portages. Both Rich Winstanley (Division Two, 1hr 34min 28sec) and David Gurney (Division Three, 1:38.33) achieved bronze medals.
In the Geoff Sanders competition for under-14s over a distance of 3.5km there were gold medals for brother and sister Benjamin Middleton (class A, 22:27) and Sophie Middleton (class C, 23:57).
The latter’s medal was especially well deserved as she had to fight off competition from a Norwich lad, winning by three seconds. She has been promoted to class B.
Hosts Norwich won the event with a near-perfect 599 points ahead of runners-up Chelmsford on 587. Stortford amassed 580 to finish four-adrift of third-placed Leighton Buzzard.
Other Stortford results: Doubles - Div 5: 6th Kerstin Queeney & Kerry Tubby 1:13.11. Singles - Div 4: 5 Ben Tubby 1:09.52, 10 Oleh Kuzmenko 1:11.09, Jasper Kirtland (rtd); Div 6: 6 Jamie Bond 1:23.23, 7 Eilidh White 1:24.56, 9 Christine Meula 1:26.38; Div 8: 8 Zoe Norford 42:34; Div 9: 6 Jack Law 41:51, 8 James Breeze 42:35, 9 Robin Dromard 44:05. Under-14s - Div B: 6 Summer Norford 23:22.
