An Amazing Day of Fun alongside the Festival
The Sharks joined in the Festival Sprit at Thamesmead by running an entry level Wild Water Race and extra sessions along side the Thamesmead Festival on Saturday with over 60 people getting on the water and having fun.
Racing at Thamesmead
You can download the results here.
This is the fourth race we have organised in the past 11 months, three entry level Wild Water Races and one mini-marathon (2k race).
We had 25 different people taking part and for 18 of them it was their first evert taste of racing kayaks. A great introductory event showing that The Sharks are delivering something exciting in this corner of London. We also welcomed paddlers from 6 different regional clubs and a very special mention to the Pirate Castle from Camden, who were entering paddlers in their first ever ranking canoe race.
Are you interested in joining the fun? You can come along to our sessions for recreation of to race, there is so much happening at Southmere Lake in Thamesmead. Email us: thamesmead@thesharks.org.uk or call/text: 07481 564945.
As we want to be inclusive, we allowed people to race the course in any boats, however, boats with rudders are not permitted for earning points in ranking Wild Water Races, we have set the results out in tables, so everybody can see how they did in each craft.
Ladies’ K1 Results
The fastest paddler of the day was Pauline from The Sharks, she raced in a K1 (with rudder) her latest time was 3 minutes and 10 seconds, but as explained above is not eligible for WWR points.
Which means the winner of the WWR was Anna Bezruchko from Pirate Castle, a fantastic result for the J14 in her first ever ranking race. Her fastest time was 3:26.
The Shark’s Under-12 paddler, Rosalind Edwards was just 4 seconds behind in second place, and the bronze medal went to Beatre Traflet from Pirate Castle, with a time of 3:55, for the Junior 14 paddler, racing for the first time.
Junior-10 from Pirate Castle, Nastia Bezruchko, took 4 minutes to complete the course, she was followed by Judit Parsons (V45) from The Sharks with a time of 6:37. The Sharks also took 6th place with Asti Kniurstiene (V55) in a time of 7:09. All three were first time racers.
| Ladies’ | K1 times for boats | with rudders | ||
| Pos | Name | Club | Age | Time |
| 1 | Pauleine | The Sharks | Senior | 3:10 |
| 2 | Anna Bezruchko | Pirate Castle | J14 | 3:20 |
| 3 | Beatre Traflet | Pirate Castle | J14 | 3:50 |
Men’s K1 Results
Racing in his first ever ranking event for Pirate Castle, was Maxwell Bizeray, The J18 wind the event with a time of 2 minutes, the fastest time of the day.
The last two places on the podium were filled with Shark paddlers; Senior paddler Grant Underwood completed his run in 2:20, followed by J16 Ivijah Campbell Bryan with a time of 2:21.
Three paddlers recorded a time of 2:40 and were separated by their second best time. Paul Keane (V45) from Brentford Community Boathouse, both Paul and Brentford are new on the racing scene, he was constant and recorded exactly the same time on both runs. J14 Mohammed Bouhassane, other run time was two seconds slower and the third paddler with that time was Shepperton’s Antony Cowderoy was the oldest paddler of the day, racing V70, his other time being 2:47. Great to see you Antony, proving that Canoeing is a Sport for All, age is no barrier!
Another first time paddler was Pirate Castle‘s Misha Harovyi (J14) who tied with Meridian‘s Malcolm Blowers V60, both with a fastest time of 2:50 and an identical other run time of 2:52.
V50, Dave Edwards, from The Sharks, was 9th in a time of 3:02. Six seconds behind him was J16 Freddie Traflet and then Under 23, Brandon Newman (3:11), both first timers and both from Pirate Castle.
Changie Hu raced twice in a river race, the V45 took 3:15, and this counts as a ranking run. The Lee Valley Paddler also did the course on a Stand-Up-Paddle board and was only one second slower. Whilst Paddle boards are allowed to race (and we may run a SUP race later in the Summer), they do not collect ranking points in River Racing.
Another new Shark, Ben Ellinghan (V35) took 3:19, whilst the more experienced Lee Valley Paddler, Rod Grundy (V60) took 3:31
The next 7 places were taken by Shark paddlers, all new to racing , except Thomas Billis (J16) whose time was 3:53. M50, Steve Parsons, J12 Alfie Jenner, Senior Alex Hooper, at both under 8-years old Oliver Parsons and Oliver Parsons were the youngest paddlers of the day, with then Ollie Jenner (J12) next.
| Men’s | K1 times for boats | with rudders | ||
| Pos | Name | Club | age | Time |
| 1 | Malcolm Blowers | Meridian | V60 | 2:56 |
| 2 | Oliver Parsons | The Sharks | J8 | 4:38 |
Ladies’ C1
And the winner was Junior 14 paddler Beatre Traflet from Pirate Castle, with a time of 4:10. In Second Place was Shark paddler Abbie McDonald (J12) with a time of 4:25, filling the rostrum in third place was the Pirate Castle‘s J10, Nastia Bezruchko, her time was 6:07).
Men’s C1
Winning this event and collecting maximum points was The Shark’s Ivijah Campbell Bryan (J16) with a time of 3:41, Mohammed Bouhassane was second with a time of 4:30, the J14 is also a Shark paddler.
A Lee Valley pairing of Rod Grundy and Changie Hu too first place in the Men’s C2 race, with a time of 3:28, The Sharks pairing Ivijah Campbell-Bryan and Mohammed Bouhassane came second in a time of 3:35. Bronze place was filled by the Pirate’s team of Misha Harovyi and Maxwell Biseray, with a time of 3:55. in fourth place was another Sark crew of Mohammed Bouhassane and Alfie Jenner in 5 minutes.
Mixed C2
Gold went to Grant Underwood and Abbie McDonald, of The Sharks, their time was 3:05, sliver went to another Shark pair; Abbie McDonald and Ivijah Campbell-Bryan (4:00), with bronze going to Grant Underwood and Rosalind Edwards (4:32). In fourth place was the Pirate Castle crew of Maxwell Biseray and Beatre Traflet (5:48).
Men’s K2
In order to ensure maximum fun at our events we try and host a Kayak doubles event, with Topo Duos, all though not ranking, it is fun and helps build skills and gain both confidence and experience.
Pirate Castle took the honours in the Men’s event with Brandon Newman competing their run in 3:17, following them was another Pirate crew of Misha Harovyi and Maxwell Biseray with a time of 3:29, obviously got a great team culture in the club. Third were The Shark team pair of Giles Brunning and Ollie Jenner (3:41).
Mixed K2
both crews were a mix of Sharks and Lee Valley Paddlers; first place was Changie and Pauline (3:56), with Rod and Asta runner-up (4:20).
Club Points
| Pos | Club | Paddlers | Points |
| 1 | The Sharks | 19 | 27,843 |
| 2 | The Pirate Castle | 9 | 16,678 |
| 3 | Lee Valley Paddle Club | 2 | 5,090 |
| 4 = | Shepperton Slalom Canoe Club | 1 | 1,600 |
| 4 = | Brentford Community Boathouse | 1 | 1,600 |
| 6 | Meridian Canoe Club | 1 | 1,500 |
Thank You
As always, these events can only run with the help of dedicated volunteers, officials, coaches, and paddlers working together.
The Sharks have a fantastic team of people who turn out and help run these events, we thank you very much.
We are also grateful to Peabody, who partner us in the project at Thamesmead, especially to their Grounds team who work hard to keep the lake weed free in this hot weather.
Active Thames, who have helped fund our acuities and to get more people involved in water sports across our great City.
Sport England whose Movement Fund has provided equipment to enable us to reach out to a wider community and get new people on the water, having fun and getting fitter, both mentally and physically.
We must also thank the clubs who came and raced today, their coaches and all the paddlers, without whom we would not have any races.
It was a fantastic day, with festival goers having a paddle as well as the racers. If you are interested in getting involved please get in touch: thamesmead@thesharks.org.uk or call/text: 07481 564945. The Sharks is a not-for-profit club run by its membership, please come along and get involved.
Published 9th August 2026