Competitions

The season 2018 was historical for Jenny Egan and Irish Canoe Sprint. 31-year-old paddler from Leixlip in Kildare won bronze medal in the 5000 metres event of the 2018 World Championships in Portugal. This was the first ever medal for Irish Canoeing at Sprint World Championships. This year Egan focuses on European Games and World Championships where she will fight for the Olympic quota.

Canoe Federation of Serbia celebrated their annual “Canoeing Day” in one of Belgrade’s hotels and awarded the best in the season 2018. Milica Starović received an award for the best female paddler of the year, while in male category the award went to Marko Tomičević and Milenko Zorić.

British canoe freestyle star Claire O’Hara has been awarded an MBE for her services in canoeing in the New Years Honours list. Ray Goodwin, first paddler to cross the Irish Sea unsupported, is also among those on the list.

Polish Olympic Committee awarded the best young athletes of the year 2018 during the annual New Year’s Olympic Family Meeting held on 12^th January 2019 in Warsaw. This year the meeting was even more special because of the celebrations of the 100^th anniversary of the POC. The Eugeniusz Pietrasik Olympic Hope Prize was won by canoe sprinter Bartosz Grabowski and tennis player Iga Swiatek.

The ECA Junior Canoe Slalom Cup race series has been around now for several seasons and it attracts many young participants from European countries as well as some paddlers from other continents. This year the race series will kick off early in June in Krakow.