A great event on our home waters

The Harefield 2022 Division 4 event proved to be a great success, attracting large numbers and as you would expect from The Sharks, doing things slightly differently.

The first thing we need to do is to say a big thank you to everybody involved in making this event a great success, our Slalom Coach Rick Moore was the lead person in making this happen, but it was a solid team event involving the wider Shark membership, we are very grateful to the Clancy Group for letting us use their field and for providing the toilets.

The Sharks are always looking at ways we can improve the sport, and access to the sport, getting more people involved. So this year we did things very differently.

On Saturday, we hosted coached sessions on the water for anybody and everybody who wanted them, not just Shark paddlers, this was a popular move, it brought new people in to the discipline. giving people the opportunity to try slalom in a friendly environment with out any commitment.

The event on Sunday, was also slightly different, we wanted to encourage more people to try more classes, so we ran a kayak event in the morning and and a canoe event in the afternoon. Avoiding that normal rush to get from one boat to the other, still being out of breath when you start in the second class, and then waiting hours before you repeat! Our argument is it encourages more people to give other classes a try and raises the standards as people are racing fresher. The results, suggest we may be on to something.

Promotions – Men’s K1 – Division 4

With a larger than often entry for a for a division 4 event, we had four people promoted in the Men’s K1 event, with The Sharks Kurt White claiming his overdue promotion, taking 2nd place on the rostrum he built for the event, in third place also promoted was Jamie Cavagnani from Canalside who is part of our partnership in West-London.

Dylan West missed out by just two seconds and took 5th place

Canalside padder Ubayda Hadjali came 6th, with club mates Nathaniel (9th), and Abdulah El Ghorba (10th) making their debuts in canoe slalom. Jim West came 12th.

And Madhav Gadhvi, making his debut came 14th for The Sharks. well done guys and expect to see you all at Shepperton next weekend.

Ladies K1 – Division 4

Canalside’s Janelle took second place, but unfortunately missed out on promotion and Maryam El Ghorba came in 4th.

Men’s C1 – Division 4

Another two promotions in this event, suggesting our policy of separate events may well be worth considering, in First place was Meshach Lewis followed by Hudayfa Hadjali in second place.

Christopher Papageorgiou from Viking came third, followed in fourth place by Aditya Ravichander, fifth was Dylan West, and then Jaafar El Haddad , and Ubayda Hadjali, with Kurt White in eighth place. A great Shark event!

Ladies C1 – Division 4

Jasmin Uhlhorn was the winner with Tasmeen Khatra in second place.

Open C2 event

Nine crews entered the C2 event and the first place duo were Rick Moore and Alex Aldred

A blast from the past saw Robin Williams and Patrick Thorn from Windsor take second place and we would also like to thank them for their help and support over the weekend.

Meshach Lewis and Hudayfa Hadjali came in third, whilst Kurt White & Neal Underwood took 4th place, Neal just edging himself ahead of himself with Jasmin Uhlhorn in fifth (and first mixed crew). Kate & Chris Kate Papageorgiou from Viking in 6th and Tasmeen Khatra and Aaron Nolan 7th. Junior 12s Jaafar El Haddad and Ubayda Hadjali took 7th place.

Whilst Kurt White paddling with Aditya Ravichander came 8th.

Open Kayak Singles

In the Women’s event Jasmin Uhlhorn took second place, just behind Reading’s Emily Neville.

Viking’s Kate Papageorgiou separating the Shark paddlers as Tasmeen Khatra came 4th.

A large entry in the Men’s event saw Cheltenham’s Simon MacDonald pip Rick Moore by the narrowest of margins to take first place form our coach. Alex Aldred cane third, although his best time drew with Aaron Nolan and second best runs were used to split the two.

Hudayfa Hadjali and Meshach Lewis were 6th and 7th respectively. First Junior 12 Aditya Ravichander was 9th over all and Neal Underwood 10th and Jafaar El Haddad 11th.

Open Canoe Singles

The Men’s event was won by Paul Mew from Windsor/Shepperton Clubs, Paul was there, not for the first time to help us out and do some coaching in the canoes. Thanks Paul.

In second place was Alex Aldred, then Pat Thorn from Wey Kayak Club. Rick Moore came 4th, Arron Nolan 6th and Neal Underwood 7th.

The Ladies event was won by Kate Papageorgiou from Viking.

The overall combined Canoe and Kayak trophy (know as the essence of the Irish Gate), awarded to the best performer across the three events, K1, C1 and C2 was awarded to Alex Aldred.

We would also like to thank Olympic Medallist Mallory Franklin for presenting the medals to competitors.

Published 18th October 2022