There was a heart-breaking end to canoeist Liam Jegou’s quest for a Tokyo medal, finishing 15th in the Semi-final and not progressing to the Olympic Final.

A fantastic start to his racing was cut short with the tiny margins in Canoe Slalom, incurring two 50 second time penalties and dropping down the results list. 

It turned out to be an extremely difficult morning for Jegou. Having recovered from a stressful day in the heats, Liam was off to a great start in his semi-final race, posting the fastest times on the top 2 splits as he powered his way down the course in a very composed display of racing. As he neared the bottom of the course the tiny margins in Canoe Slalom became clear as he barely misjudged the next gate in the sequence, diving to get his head between the poles but incurring a 50-second penalty, throwing him off balance and too far from the next gate to complete it correctly, ultimately ending his Olympic Games.

Speaking about the race Liam said – "Maybe I had the final already in my sights, and you can't be doing that"

His form coming into these Games was clear, with a sixth place in the Final of the World Cup in Germany before flying to Tokyo. With the momentum from this, the plan was for not just a final but potentially a medal, making this result all the more difficult to take.

"I've been working really really hard for that final run and to get a chance to fight for an Olympic medal"

Jegou now turns his sights to the World Championships later this year in Slovakia.

Liam Jegou got his C1 Canoe Slalom campaign underway at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre posting a time of 174.57 in his first run of the heats after picking up a missed gate penalty.

“A shaky start I’ll call it,” said Canoeing Ireland Performance Director, Jon Mackey, after the first run “We dropped an edge mid-course, but had a lovely opening, the start of the course was nice and tight, nice and technical.”

Jegou has a second run later today, with Mackey adding: “It’s good to get the nerves out of the way on the first run and get a feel for it. I think he’ll come back a lot stronger in the second run.”

The top 15 after both runs are completed will progress to the semi-finals.

Ireland’s Roisín Cahill has taken silver in the Under-23 surf ski race at the ICF World Ocean Racing championships in Lanzarote.

The 22-year old from Clare, who used to be a high-performance swimmer, was ranked second at women's under-23 level behind Jade Wilson of South Africa after a race in lively and high seas.

Canoe ocean racing is contested in single and double surf skis, sea kayaks and single or six-person outriggers. Surf skis were initially similar to surfboards but modern, lighter versions can be made from composite layers of epoxy or polyester resin-bonded cloth such as fibreglass, Kevlar, carbon fibre or a mixture. They are usually five to six and a half metres long and only 40 to 50 centimetres wide.

Cahill says she loves the sport. “It’s the most fun - surfing waves at over 20 kilometres per hour! I also love the ocean and the wildlife, so it's a privilege to be able to train amongst it.”

Cahill, who is a biology and chemistry teacher, has been a lifeguard in Lahinch and has paddled near the Cliffs of Moher and the Skelligs. She has medals at European level in surf life-saving. She trains with Celbridge Paddlers in Kildare.

Ireland’s Tadhg de Barra also competed in Lanzarote, in the senior men’s class.

In a move for casual paddlers Canoeing Ireland has launched a new website with a wealth of useful information for everyone from first time or occasional paddlers to enthusiasts who are trying a new craft or looking for new challenges.

With an emphasis on water safety, the site offers easy to follow guidelines on the basic requirements for safe paddling. Our recognised activity providers and watersport retailers are listed with contact details for ease of access.

The extraordinary growth in popularity of paddlesports from stand up paddleboards to sit on top kayaks along with the more traditional craft is a good news story.

The information on safety and basic equipment required for safe paddling on the new site will make sure that everyone returns home safely at the end of a fun-filled day.

Seven Canoeing on the Water Safety Essentials

• Be Able to Swim
• Always wear a Buoyancy aid
• Never Paddle Alone
• Have a method of calling for help
• Let someone know where you are going
• Check the weather and water conditions
• Get some training or join a club

It is important to consider the essentials before you take to the water.

Patrick O’Leary has become European Champion at the Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe European Championships in Poznan -Poland.

Racing in the VL3 Final, Patrick got off to a brilliant start, trading the lead with Adrian Mosquera of Spain, eventually taking the win in a photo finish, 0.1 seconds ahead of Mosquera.

The win comes after a great performance in the qualification round of the VL3, finishing in 3rdplace in his heat on Thursday to qualify directly through to today's final.

O'Leary tops the VL3 Final scoresheet 

Patrick will race tomorrow afternoon again in the final of the KL3 200m, and will hopefully back up this sensational performance with another medal-winning performance. This result will give Patrick great momentum as he closes in on racing in this summers Paralympic Games, where he will again compete in the VL3 and KL3.

Patrick will race tomorrow afternoon again in the final of the KL3 200m

Elsewhere in the Canoe Sprint European Championships, Barry Watkins will compete in the B final of the K1 Men 500m and 1000m. With Jenny Egan contesting the K1Women 200m,500m and 5000m later in the weekend.

Irish canoeist Jenny Egan has won a silver medal in the 5000m at last weekend’s Canoe Sprint World Cup in Barnaul, Russia. The performance is made all the more impressive coming off the back of a huge disappointment for Egan, missing out on the final Olympic qualification spot just three days previously.

Egan has made a strong statement with a silver medal win, the brilliant performance was backed up by a seventh place finish in the A final of the 200m two days previous.

These back to back fantastic performances came following a huge disappointment in the final Olympic Qualifier, where after making the final to fight for the final qualification spot for Tokyo Jenny finished 9th in the final missing out on the Olympic spot, the spot being ultimately taken by Russia.

Not one to sit back after an upset, Jenny immediately came back to make the 200m final of the World Cup. And even more impressively, took the fight to the 5000m final, coming home in 2nd place, just shy of the gold in a nail-biting sprint finish with the German Paulina Paszek. This will be added to Jenny’s previous Silver and Bronze medals won in her signature 5000m.

Canoeing's Team Ireland is just home after a European Championships full of tight margins and near misses. An event that truly showed the cruel nature of sport with three incredibly near misses for Olympic Qualifications.

Amid the near misses, there was no shortage of fantastic performances to make these near misses possible, setting up what promises to be a very exciting season of racing for Canoeing Ireland.

The international season for Canoe Slalom got underway on May 6th with the 2021 European Canoe Slalom Championships. Not only an elite level championship this event also acted as the European Continental Olympic Qualifier, with a single Olympic spot up for grabs in each of the 4 categories being contested at the event.

Noel Hendrick competing in the K1 Men division

The newly selected Irish Team was filled with proven international performers eager to get into the fight for the final Olympic berths for Tokyo.

The key categories in which Team Ireland was chasing qualification were the K1 Men (Samuel Curtis, Noel Hendrick and Alistair McCreery), the K1 Women (Hannah Craig and Madison Corcoran) and the C1 Women (Michaela Corcoran).

Across all the racing in these categories the tightest by far was seen in the K1 Men, with the Olympic spot coming down to the wire between Noel Hendrick and Krysztof Majerczak of Poland. After a great performance in the qualification rounds Noel Hendrick rose again to the occasion with an even more impressive run the in the semi-finals, laying down a marker for the remaining athletes seeking Olympic qualification to chase.

Athlete after athlete in contention for the Tokyo spot came down and finished behind Noel in the standings, with the agonising wait coming to a close with Majerczak of Poland, the last athlete in the running for the Olympic berth, storming down the course to claim the qualification spot. While the ultimate goal of the Olympic games was not reached, it was nonetheless an extremely impressive performance from the young athlete, making a statement as to his current and future form.

In the Olympic battle for the K1 Women it was the experience of Hannah Craig (London 2012 Olympian) that came closest for Ireland. With Hannah's final placing of 32nd being just 0.8 seconds away from a spot in the semi final, and a chance to race against Naemi Braendle of Switzerland for the final qualification spot.

The C1 Women featured a similar story, with Michaela Corcoran incurring a 50-second penalty to take her out of the running for the Olympic spot in her category.
Outside of the Olympic qualification battle, Irelands already confirmed 2021 Olympian Liam Jegou was top of Irelands C1 Men. Liam showed his hard winter of training with a 10th place in the qualification rounds, going on to suffer penalties in the semi-final to finish in 30th overall for the event. The C1 Men team also put up a valiant fight to defend their silver medal from last years Euros, finishing in 5th place in the final, just one 2 second penalty away from a spot on the podium.

2021 Canoe Slalom European Championships & Olympic Qualifier Full results

K1 Men
Noel Hendrick - 24th Alistair McCreery - 37th Samuel Curtis - 44th

K1 Women
Hannah Craig – 32nd Madison Corcoran – 34th

C1 Women
Michaela Corcoran - 35th

C1 Men
Liam Jegou – 30th Robert Hendrick – 32nd Jake Cochrane – 38th

Northern Ireland Canoeist Jake Cochrane won a bronze medal in the C1 Men Final earlier this month at the first race of the 2021 Pyrenees Cup, an ICF ranking series held in northern Spain and southern France.

The full-time Canoe Slalom athlete from Jordanstown showed great pace all weekend, starting with third in the qualification round, and carrying the momentum to his medal-winning performance with a clean run of 93.70 seconds in the final.

Also in action was 2012 Olympian Hannah Craig, who showed the strength of the Irish Team this year, making the finals of the K1 Women, finishing ninth.

The Pyrenees Cup is a series of races held in southern France and northern Spain, attracting a very high level of competition with international racers from all over Europe using the series to get their first start line of the year.

Paddlers from all disciplines and backgrounds were honoured last night at the 2021 Canoeing Ireland Awards. At the virtual ceremony, Awards were presented for a diverse range of achievements across paddlesports in 2020. While 2020 was a difficult year for all sports, Canoeing Ireland was lucky that some athletes had the opportunity to compete internationally, and to have a small number of domestic events around the country.

In a challenging year, it was even more important to celebrate achievements and to mark the passion and hard work which was put into keeping things afloat.

Canoeing event of the year - The 10k charity paddle winner was chosen by public vote

At the ceremony itself, Awards were presented across six categories –

• Community Impact Award. For work promoting our sport while having a positive impact on the local community. Winner – Martina Slevin. Martina has been a driving force behind creating opportunities for women to participate in paddlesports, facilitating training courses for women, and running brilliant charity events.
• Team of the Year. The best team performance from the 2020 competition season. Winner – C1 Men Canoe Slalom Team. Awarded for the incredible performance at the 2020 European Championships where the team took home a silver medal. Irelands first in Team racing.
• COVID Response Award. For outstanding service to the sport in facilitating a safe return to activity. Winner – Shane Henderson. Shane voluntarily rolled out a COVID hygiene training programme for Canoeing Ireland members as well as producing COVID screening questionnaires for use in clubs across the country.
• Athlete of the Year. The outstanding athlete from the 2020 season. Winner – Liam Jegou. Liam's historic World Cup Gold Medal at the ICF World Cup in Pau was the deciding factor in the awarding of Athlete of the Year. The first Gold Medal won by an Irish Athlete in the C1 Men category.
• Event of the Year. While every event held in 2020 was an achievement in its own right, Event of the Year was awarded to the event which best captured the passion for paddlesports. The winner was chosen by public vote. Winner – Rape Crisis 10K Charity Paddle. In aid of Rape Crisis Midwest, this event also acted as an opportunity to get people out on the water for their first time in a boat. The organisers also hosted a series of pre- event courses for women and beginner paddlers.
• Volunteer of the Year. The most popular and highly contested category each year, this award is presented to a volunteer who has best served our sport through their passion, selfless work, and continued commitment to our sport. Winner – Patricia McCormack. Patricia has been a long serving volunteer in Canoe Polo. Patricia is a founding member of Kilcock Canoe Polo Club, has served on the Canoe Polo National Committee and has many times travelled with the National Team as coach and manager. After her own diagnosis with cancer, Patricia launched the ‘Mahon Cup’, a fundraising event for cancer charities which brought together women polo players of all ages for a fun day of competition.

Canoeing volunteer of the year - Patricia McCormack

The opportunity to celebrate the wins from a roller-coaster year in 2020 was enjoyed by both the organisers and attendees. 2021 is shaping up to be an even bigger and better year for paddlesports, promising a lot more to celebrate when the 2022 Awards roll around.

Liam Jegou made Irish canoeing history today taking Ireland’s first-ever World Cup Gold medal in the C1 Men category.

In the final of the ICF World Cup in Pau, France, Liam put down a run of 100.35 seconds to take the top spot and secure his first-ever World Cup medal, 0.73 seconds ahead of the Czech Republic’s Vaclav Chaloupka.

This medal performance followed brilliant racing during the whole competition, with Liam also posting the fastest time in Friday's qualification event, and producing further composed racing to finish in sixth in the semi-final and secure his final spot.

Tokyo 2021 confirmed Olympian Liam Jegou has won Gold at the World Cup in Pau, France

As Afloat reported previously, Liam in the past few years had moved to Pau to train full time so was effectively racing on home water, showing his mastery of this course with consistently fast racing across the whole competition. This outstanding result reflects the hard work the Irish athlete has been putting in all summer in the lead in to next years Tokyo Olympic Games, where Liam is the first athlete to have qualified for Team Ireland at the upcoming Games.

“I’ve been pushing myself really hard now for several years, and all summer, preparing for events like this. So I’m absolutely thrilled to put down a big run like this in the seniors, it means a lot.” Liam Jegou

Hannah Craig

Elsewhere in the World Cup, London 2012 Olympian, Hannah Craig made a great return to competition finishing 13th in the K1 Women's event, narrowly missing out on a spot in the finals. Giving Hannah great motivation to take on her bid to qualify for the Tokyo Games in early next year. In the K1 Men Ireland was represented by junior athlete Tom Morley, getting great experience at World Cup level and paving the way for a bright future.