Despite a strong start in the heats for the GB team at this weekend’s European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, the women’s team came home feeling rather disappointed.

Day one was opened with perfect racing conditions for the athletes. The GB women’s squad displayed they were in fine form throughout the World Cup races last month, with each of the team members walking away with a medal. Their performance in the heats in Belgrade strengthened their confidence further as all the boats qualified straight through to the finals.

European bronze medallist Rachel Cawthorn got the team off to a blinding start in the women’s K1 500m, winning her heat in a fine time of 1.49.8. Following her lead the new partnership of Lani Belcher and Angela Hannah continued to make their mark in the K2 500m, finishing third in their heat and gaining direct entry to Sunday’s final.

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Read related features:

Canoeing: Neave starts the medal collection at the European Championships ^[1]

Canoeing: Strong weekend for the GB women as the World Cup Series closes ^[2]

European Canoeing Championships, Serbia ^[3]

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Full of confidence from their gold medal in Duisburg a few weeks ago team mates Abigail Edmonds, Jessica Walker, Hayleigh Mason and Louisa Sawers put in a solid performance to get their Championship off to a good start seeing them finish third place in their heat and making it three finals for the girls team.

After the day’s racing Brendan Purcell, Head Coach commented: “There was great racing from the girls in the heats today taking them all straight through to the finals on Sunday, it really shows they are on track for being top six and on target for medals.”

On Saturday Jessica Walker was back on the water, this time without her team mates for the heats of the K1 200m. Qualifying straight through to the final the day before in the K4 500m, Walker had all intentions on repeating the performance to make her second final of the weekend. Following McKeever’s lead Walker flew out of the start buckets to bring the heat home in 40.798, securing her place in the final.

So with four Olympic discipline finals for the women’s team a medal seemed on the cards but with tough competition it wasn’t to be GB’s day.

Following a poor start in the K1 500m, Rachel Cawthorn struggled to get her boat up and running, leaving her chasing the field all the way to the line, finishing in ninth place. It was a similar story for the K2 pairing of Lani Belcher and Angela Hannah, who also finished in ninth.

With the intensity and calibre of competition increased the K4 of Abigail Edmonds, Jessica Walker, Hayleigh Mason and Louisa Sawers had their work cut out to pull themselves into the race after a slow start, but grafted hard together to cross the line in sixth. With one race already under her belt Jessica Walker was back on the start line for the K1 200m final, in a tight race she fought hard to finish in eigth.

In the women’s K1 5000m event Lani Belcher went out to defend her European title, but with an outstanding performance from the Belarusian paddler, Maryan Paltaran, Belcher had to settle for the silver making it three medals in total for GB Canoeing after Liam Heath and Jon Schofield stormed to victory in the K2 200m and Ed McKeever won bronze in the K1 200m

Purcell commented: “The women’s racing was tough today and it shows the high level of competition out there, mistakes were made and we know there is some work to be done, but with all the boats qualifying straight into the finals we know we have the quality. It’s now just about going away and working with the support teams and coaches and filling in the gaps - all is still on track and looking good for Olympic qualification at the World Championships in August.”

Louise Hudson, Sportsister

The Women’s Sports Magazine