The first race at Thamesmead
Yes, on September 4th The Sharks hosted the first race at Thamesmead and it was a ranking Wild Water race, of about 400 metres.
This was a friendly fun event that was making a statement about the Thamesmead project at The Sharks ambition to turn it into the premier water-sports location in London.
So let us start with a big thank you for the 24 paddlers who took part in the race, 21 of whom were new to racing and most of you only started paddling this Summer with The Sharks, this numbers tell a story about the people of Thamesmead and what we are going to achieve together. Well done folks.
To the results, which are published on the Wild Water Racing Website, as you are now all ranked Wild Water Racing paddlers.
Ladies K1
First and second place went to the slightly more experienced paddlers from our close neighbours Meridian Canoe Club, Congratulations to: Katheryn Tuck for winning the overall event and taking first J18 as well, her time was 3minutes and ten seconds
Katheryn’s mother, Nikki Tuck took second place and first V50 with a time of 3:32.
In third place was Thamesmead’s Emma Flottwegg, racing for The Sharks, and not for the first time. She was also the first J14. Her time was 3:52.
4th and First J12 was Abbey MacDonald (The Sharks) in a time of 4:00, followed by:
Lizzy Bahanda (4:15), Sheila Gonzalez (4:22), Michelle Earl (4:30), Caitlin Earl (4:34), and Sam Whitehead (5:31) all Shark paddlers and all new to paddlesport this year, so a fantastic achievement!
Men’s K1
Taking first place for The Sharks was Aaron Nolan, his time was 2:16 four seconds ahead of Grant Underwood, also from The Sharks.
Third place went to Steve Tuck from Meridian in a time of 3:11, he was also first V55.
Family is very important and so great to see Jacob Flottwegg taking 4th place with a time of 3:18, he was also first Under-18.
Or lead coach at Thamesmead, racing for the first time in a long while came 5th (3:44). Tony Howard was only a second behind.
One of our youngest paddler of the day Zak Ahmed took 3:59 to complete the course and was first J8, coming 7th.
Hugo Flottwegg (J10) was 8th (4:03), followed by Christos Gainnopoulos (4:19), Harry York (4:30), Samual Ashmoah (4:51), and Daniel Lesko, also an under-8 came 12th over all, his time being5:48.
An interloper from Meridian and a great friend of The Sharks, Malcolm Blowers was 13th a with a time of 5:51. Ali Moallim, another under-ten fro this year’s sessions at Thamesmead finished in a time of 6:30, followed by Paul Nara (6:33).
Taking part is the thing, you all now have times to beat when we race again in November (we will publish a date soon, it will probably be a Saturday morning).
Men’s C1
As special mention to Grant Underwood for racing C1 (that is a canoe as opposed to a kayak, he won and his time was 3:15. Hopefully we can see more of you trying different boats in the future.
The full results are below.
Did you know the deputy Major of London Mete Coban, came to have a look around? He was very impressed with seeing you all on the water and has indicated he intends to return.
James Hinves from Paddle UK was also on site, he had been meeting with us to help us plane our future developments and there are some very exciting plans, take a look at his report.
You will have noticed ed some of our longer-term paddlers have their own profile, we will be developing these for everyone who races, teaches, coaches or supports us, However, we need help to keep the momentum going, so if you would like to get involved in making Thamesmead London’s Premier Water Sports Centre, please get in touch call us on 07951 770241, email thamesmead@thesharks.org.uk. We need lots of people with lots of skills, enthusiasm, and between us we can build something very special.
Published 17th September 2025