A truly great event
Those of you who were not there, you missed one of the great fun events of the year, many thanks to the organisers for running such a great event.
The Wild Water Racing event was held on the artificial white water course in Northampton on the River Nene. Due to the nature of the course it is only suitable for Wavehoppers (plastic River Racers) or smaller boats.
But the organisers decided to add a twist to the fun and have a Duo Topo Race (double plastic kayaks) absolutely great fun for the kids both you and old!
Disappointing that only six Shark Paddlers made the journey, but none of them or the parents watching were disappointed.
Results
Wavehopper K1 Women
Our only female paddler was Anaya Dhillon, making her first venture on to rough water, she came 17th and second under 12, she collects 1.067 Points, she is now ranked 36th (2nd J12) in the Country with 2,315 points, form only two races. Her time was 1 minute 54.8 seconds. Anaya started canoeing whilst at Three Bridges Primary School where we host PE lessons during the Summer months.
Wavehopper Men’s K1
No surprises that our top Paddler was Grant Underwood, who came 15th overall in a time of 1:08.35, collecting 1,653 points. His season’s total is now 5,818, he is ranked 20th in the UK. He will be racing in the European Cup later this year, good luck Grant and many thanks for the support you gave the youngsters on Saturday, running round coaching all day before having to ge on and do your run.
A change in the normal order of things and Ivijah Campbell-Bryan, paddling on this kind of water for the first time, had a bit of a bumpy start but on his second run managed a time of 1:26.60, to place him 21st over all and second J14. He is now ranked 48th with 4,340, he is also ranked 3rd J14. Ivijah started canoeing a couple of years ago with us whilst at Harlesden Primary School.
Our third best paddler was Neal Underwood, whose time of 1:23.28, placed him 28th over all and second V60, he earns 1,318 points and is now ranked 41st in the Country and third V60.
Meridian Paddler and Shark supported Malcom Blowers was only 0.32 second behind Neal, taking 29th spot and is currently ranked 52nd in the Country.
Another paddler who was new to this level of water was Mohammed Bouhassane, entering only his second race ever. He came 42nd with a time of 1:46.15, he was also 4th J12. A truly brilliant performance from Mohammed, who only started paddling this year through our partnership with Harlesden Primary School, He is now ranked 177th in the UK and 11th J12.
Ezikiel Mambo, was another paddler experiencing rough water for the first time, he was 44th and first J10, the youngest paddler ate event. His time was 1:59.92. He is currently ranked 115th in Britain and is second Under-10! Ezikiel paddles with our St. Mary’s after School Club in Southall.
Wavehopper Team Event
6 paddlers equals two teams, our highest ranking team was made up of Ivijah, Ezikiel and Anaya, the came 12th in a time of 2:14.0, whilst Grant, Neal and Mohammed came in 13th with a time of 3:49.97.
Topo Duo Event Ladies’
Anaya Dhillon paired up with Nottingham Kayak Club’s Sophie Marriott to take 4th place and first J14 crew. Time: 3:39.43.
Mixed Doubles
Ivijah teamed up with Hattie McNeill from Protues Cane Club and came 9th 1:36.06.
Mohammed teamed up with Lydia Oxtoby from Leighton Buzzard Canoe Club and came in 11th: 1:43.0.
Men’s
Mohammed and Nick Boreham from Nottingham Kayak Club were our highest ranked pair with a time of 1:24.44, they were 5th over all.
An all Shark team of Grant and Mohammed came 7th, their time was 1:26.63.
Finn Lovell from Worcester Canoe Club partnered Ivijah to take 8th place in a time of 1:30.75, they were second J16 crew
Grant and Neal won the family section, and were 9th overall in a time of 1:33.97.
Overall Inter Club Champions
We extend our congratulations to Nottingham Kayak Club, who won the over all competition. The Sharks came 5th, which was quite impressive given the size of our team, next year we expect everyone there, to enjoy the fun and help us win.
Thank You
To the host Club Wiltshire Youth Canoe Club and especially to Kevin Bowers Bank, Phil Brown and Lucy Brown, for staging such a great event.
To our coaches and helpers, who did a lot of running and quite a lot of diving in the water to help paddlers new to the rough water.
To the parents who came and enjoyed the event, I think you were a bit surprised by the water, but also by how much fun it was and how safe it actually is. Supporting us by turning up and brining paddlers is important to us ensuring everything runs smoothly, and you really enjoy it too.
And also a rich shout out to the paddlers who raced, had fun and participated in the spirit of the event. Great so see paddlers from a number of clubs teaming up to race together and just have fun. It is what the sport is all about.
Published 23rd October 2025