Best Ever Attended Mini Slalom Series Won by a Yorkshire Paddler

A young paddler from Yorkshire won the best-attended Mini Slalom series hosted by Stafford and Stone Canoe Club despite eight of the top ten overall positions being won by the home club.

Jacquelyn Shaw from Ribble Canoe Club won the overall series of three slaloms held on the river Trent at Westbridge Park, Stone having come in the top four at all three events and ultimately winning the super final last Sunday.

In joint second place were club paddlers Natalie Wilson, division 1, and Mark Proctor, premier division Canadian singles (C1). The mini slaloms are handicapped to ensure that all divisions have an equal chance of winning. These two results are all the more impressive as Natalie came overall third last year as a division 4 paddler such has been her improvement, whilst Mark has consistently performed well as he finished forth last year in the same division.

Despite over half of the entries for the event coming from SSCC paddlers, many of the prizes for the third mini slalom went to paddlers from other clubs. In overall 1st place was division 4 paddler, Lindsey Furness from Holme Pierrepont Canoe Club, 2nd place went to Helen Millband from the same club and third place was won by Jacquelyn Shaw.

In premier division, Lizzie Neave came 1st, whilst her brother, Rob Neave, came second in the men’s K1. Greg Pitt came first in the C1 category but a costly penalty touch in the super final stopped him from beating close rival, Mark Proctor. The Roden brothers won the Canadian doubles class.

Division 1 saw some good performances from SSCC paddlers. Joe Clarke and Claire Kimberley both won their events with times that beat some of the premier division paddlers – even without the handicap. Tom Brady came third and Natalie Wilson came second.

In division 2, George Tatchell won the C1 event, whilst Sam Johnson won the kayaks with Paul Schur in third place. Bethan Crawshaw came second with Hannah Norish following in third place. In the lower divisions, Michael Wilson won division 3, which together with his previous two wins earned him a place in the super final alongside his sister, Natalie. Matt Jones came 2nd. In division 4 Daniel Wright and Harry Boardman came 1st and 2nd respectively, both earning promotion into the next division.

The beginning of the competitive slalom season starts next week. The next race at Stone, a division 3/4, will be on March 12th.