A Shiver of Sharks in Somerset
Fourteen Sharks were racing at Langham Farm on the weekend in the Slalom and Wild Water Race event, hosted by Frome Canoe Club.
Frome, do things slightly differently and from the size of the entry, maybe there are lessons to be learnt. A really great event, which had plenty of time to practice on Saturday, which is ideal for developing paddlers, a team event in the afternoon, followed by a regional ranking River Race and then Sunday was the Division 3 and 4 slalom. Making for a great weekend of paddling and fun.
The Sharks established a campsite on Friday evening and had a great time, a real communal feeling to the weekend, with helpers, coaches, and parents enjoying a weekend away. The boats left from Three Bridges School on Friday evening, with paddlers arriving separately.
Saturday
Several hours of practice on the river, which is an ideal standard for people wanting to develop and improve their skills, whether it is for River Racing or Slalom. As well as helping paddlers learn, this is a fun activity and we will have all day Saturday at our Sharks at Shepperton event on the 23rd – 25th May, doing just this, we are learning from Frome.
Slalom Team Event.
A fourth place finish for Semir, Grant, and Ivijah
Eighth place finish for the diverse team of Giles in a kayak, Neal in a C1 and Ian and Michelle in a C2.
Youngsters, Abbey and Zak joined up with Mo from Viking to secure 20th place.
And Team Syed, brothers; Abdurraham, Abdullah, and Saalih, came 27th
A truly great day of racing and fun on the slalom course before the …
Wild Water Race
K1 Men
Our top paddler in the WWR was Grant Underwood, who came second and collected 1,823 points for his 49 second sprint.
Ivijah Campbell-Bryan, took 9th place (2nd J16) in a time of 58.4 seconds, he earns 1,559 points to add to his season total
In 11th place and top V65 was Neal Underwood with a time of 1 minute, another 1,541 points that keeps him at the top of the over 65s
V45, Giles Brunning came 14th, he took 1:05.3 to complete the course, earning 1,365 points.
Mohammed Bouhassane was 15th and third J14. His time was 1:14.7, which was worth 1,264 points.
Saalih Syed came 23rd, he was 8th J14, and took 1:16.20, earning 1,059 points.
In 24th place was Ian Marsh, with a time of 1:17.30, adding 1,028 points to his total for the year.
C1 Men
Grant Underwood also toped our list of C1 paddlers, coming 5th with a time of 1:07.8, his first 1,731 points of 2026.
In 8th place and 2nd J16 was Ivijah Campbell-Bryan, time: 1:22.50, points: 1,413.
C2 Men
Third place were Ian Marsh and Grant Underwood, (1:08.40) 1,804 points
In fourth place was Neal Underwood and Grant Underwood: 1:15.30, with 1,663 points.
Sunday
Canoe Doubles
Two crews were paddling in this a team of Abbey McDonald and Olympic Gold medalist Etienne Stott, Not only is Etienne a great paddler, but he is an excellent ambassador for the sport, regularly attending lower division events to help and support young paddlers and on this occasion he raced with Abbey and they came third overall.
Also racing was Ian Marsh and Carmel Lord, and they came 10th in their first ever race together.
Division 4 K1 Women
Making her debut in slalom canoeing was Under-12, Abbey McDonald, she came 13th over all. Great start Abbey.
Men’s Division 4 K1
Some stunning performances in this division with Thamesmead lead coach Giles Brunning making his debut and taking first place, collecting a clear run on the way. Well done Giles, time for Division 3 now!
In 6th place was Ian Marsh, paddling for the first time this year, he also got a clear run.
Following up in 7th place and making his first slalom appearance was Mohammed Bouhassane, a brilliant start for the J14
In 8th place was Under-ten, Zak Ahmed, on his first outing of the season, a brilliant position.
Men’s Division 3 C1
M65, Neal Underwood came 9th with a clear run. Collecting his first 45 points of the season
Officials Event
Our top paddler in the Official’s race was Semier Ahmed, who is in Division 1 Men’s K1 Slalom, he came third
In sixth place was Veteran Rick Moore, with Division 2’s Ivijah Campbell- Bryan in 12th place.
An Official’s event is held at all ranking slaloms, it is a great way to get experience and have some fun whilst helping out with our sport. Entry is free, but you are required to do some voluntary work at the event, judging, or working in Control.
Without Officials, we don’t have a sport for you to race in, if you are in lower divisions, you can race on the bigger water and get some experience in preparation for promotion and see how the higher ranked paddlers race. Lower division races, need Officials and you get a competitive race to see how you are fairing against other paddlers. So please do enter these events whenever you can.
Thank You
To everybody who made this event and all canoeing events possible, to the volunteers in our sport who work tirelessly throughout the year. A lot goes on behind the scenes to keep our sport running.
To Frome Canoe Club for hosting another wonderful event.
To staff and coaches, not just of The Sharks, but of all the clubs involved, without you there would be no sport and no paddlers.
To Parents for supporting paddlers and helping out and to paddlers, without you there is no sport.
Next we are at The Sharks at Shepperton Slalom and Wild Water Race, come along and have some fun.
The Sharks are proud to be affiliated to Paddle UK
Published 21st May 2026, updated 26th May 2026
