In Canoe Sprint, Ireland's Jenny Egan-Simmons got her season off to a neat perfect start winning bronze at the second World Cup race of 2022.
This podium finish takes Egan-Simmons into the double digits of international medals, with her 10th medal in the bag.
The second round of the 2022 Canoe Sprint World Cup was marred with extremely high winds, resulting in racing being postponed for the best part of most of the competition days, testing the adaptability and mental toughness of all competing.
Competing against these conditions and their rivals for Ireland were Paralympian Patrick O’Leary and Jenny Egan-Simmons. Patrick was lining up in the VL3 and KL3, with Jenny racing in her favoured 5000m. In what was his first outing onto the start-line after the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Patrick displayed promising pace, qualifying through to the final of the KL3 200m, finishing in 9th overall. The VL3 proved more challenging, where Patrick finished 7th in his heat, missing the cut for the semi-final.
The final day of racing saw a significant improvement in both the conditions and the fortunes of the Irish Team. With a 4th place finish already under her belt from the previous week's World Cup race, Egan-Simmons had plenty of momentum going into the final of the women’s 5000m. This showed with a confident display of racing from Egan-Simmons, pushing right until the line in a close fight for the silver medal. The tight battle went just the other way with Melina Andersson (SWE) taking silver and Jenny taking the bronze. This medal also marked a milestone in Jenny’s career, her 10th international medal for Ireland.
