British Marathon Championships 2001, Norwich
Report By Eamon Fleming for the Liffey Champion
Irish Paddlers in Medal Haul!
There were 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze Medals (and 3 Mars Bars!) for Kildare
Paddlers at the British Marathon Championships that were held last week-end at Norwich in
England. The Mars Bars were presented to the Under 10s in the special Lighting Class just
before the presentation of the awards to the new British Senior and Junior Champions.
Young Celbridge Paddlers,Orla O'Toole as well as Aine and Darragh Fleming received their
Mars Bars and certificates in front of a large crowd.
Kildare canoeists were to the fore at the medal presentation. In the Senior Mens race,
Gary Mawer from Salmon Leap took the Silver Medal. Although he led out of the last portage
Gary was beaten in a sprint to the line by a former Irish International, Conor Holmes who
is now representing Great Britain in International events. But it was a promising result
for Gary in his build up to the World Championships that will take place in England at the
end of this month. The other Irish Mens Seniors, Salmon Leap's Jason Briody and Contrast's
Fergus Cooper were well up the field but out of the medals. After the race, Jason was
selected to represent Ireland, along with Gary Mawer at the World Championships.
In the Senior Mens K2 event, Ireland's only representatives were Gary Mawer and Adam
Strevens. All looked well at the first portage with the Irish pair ahead of a large field
but disaster happened on reentry when Adam Strevens received a blow to the shoulder from
another boat. The Irish pair were forced to stop until Adam recovered which put them
completely out of the running.
Irish expectations were very high in the Junior Mens race with the inclusion of the
European Silver Medalest, Neil Fleming in the field. The Celbridge boy was a hot favorite
for the title. Neil paddled with great style to win the race from his nearest rival at the
Europeans, Britain's Andrew Kelly. Andrew had finished sixth in Europe and provided a good
test for Neil as he led out of the last portage by a good twenty meters. But Neil wound
him in great style over the final 2000 meters to win quite comfortably. The other main
story of the race from an Irish perspective, with selection for the World Championships at
stake was the finishing positions of Hazelhatch's David Mangan and Mark Geraghty. With
David finishing higher up the field than Mark, he secured the second World Championship
place.
The strength in depth of Kildare canoeing was also seen when local Canoeists won the Boys
and Girls Under 14 races. Celbridge Paddlers Ciaran Fleming won the Boys Under 14 race in
a sprint to the line with the second local boy, Salmon Leaps Barry Watkins in tenth place.
In the Girls Under 14 race Salmon Leaps Jenny Egan won the race with great ease and showed
what a great prospect for the future she is. The second local girl in the race Celbridge's
Ciara O'Toole finished in a fine fifth place.
There was also a Silver medal for Jenny Egan and Ciara O'Toole in the Girls Under 14 K2
race and Ciara and Shena Devoy teamed up in the Under 16 race to take a bronze medal.
Ciaran Fleming and Barry Watkins won bronze in the Under 14 K2 and then Ciaran teamed up
with his club-mate Fergal Walsh to take a bronze in the under 16 K2.
Thomastown Paddlers from Kilkenny also sent a strong contingent of paddlers to the Norwich
with medals going to Ronan o Connor , Donacha Brennan , Declan Kelly and Tina Kelly . Team
Manager Sym Tracey was delighted with the results ' All the hard work and training is now
paying dividends '' said assistant teamm manager Ailish Mackey .
The next major event for the paddlers is the World Championships which will be held at
Stocton-on Tees at the end of the month.