John Gregory | @gregiej | Sportscene – This is to celebrate the other British Open and in no way eclipsed by the bigger brother.

The British Open weekend at Lee Valley was a poignant and significant event for competitors and spectators with top international competitors on the Olympic course and a Division 3 Open race on the Legacy Loop.

For up and coming youngsters taking part in this race it must have been truly inspiration being able to watch the very top Great Britain team paddlers at the same race weekend. J10 paddler Danny Taylor from Viking Kayak Club managed to come 9th in the Division 3 K1M race while International Canoe Federation (ICF) World Ranked Number 1 athlete in C1M, David Florence, won the heat, semi-final and final in both C1 and C2 on the Olympic course.

Lee Valley’s new Olympic Legacy Talent Identification (TID) programme has included J14 Phoebie Spicer from Rapid Talent who was the winner of the Division 3 K1W event having only just recently also won her Division 4 race. This is a startling rise through the sport’s ranking since she started paddling only 11 weeks ago. At the same time the Olympic & World Champion, Émilie Fer, from France was piped in the final by local Fiona Pennie on the other bigger course. Laburnum Boat Club’s J18 Vanessa Humphries who has been a regular participant in the GB Canoeing Club Sessions said “This is my first race at Lee Valley”. She is now in Division 2 K1W. Her younger brother Vawn competed in the Division 3 finishing in 14th place.

The 18-gate Division 3/ Open course on the Legacy Loop included six red and white upstream gates with two pumps running. With so many relatively novice competitors the course designers ran the first five gates down from the start to help navigate the first two major drops on the course. The winner of the K1M Open was 16 year-old Luke Smyth with a 80.5 second clear run. Luke is a member of the Lee Valley Academy. His dad, Martin, commented; “It was great to see so many paddlers enjoying a slalom competition on the Legacy Loop and enjoying the atmosphere of the British Open weekend.” The Division 3/ Open paddlers were able to watch Olympic bronze medalists Hannes Aigner from Germany win K1M on the Olympic course with live commentary assisted by Etienne Stott.

Congratulations to Shaun Pearce, Lead Performance Pathway Coach at GB Canoeing and his dedicated band of volunteers who rallied together to pull off a well-orchestrated event on the Olympic course’s little brother.

The GB Canoeing Legacy club sessions began in February 2013 and in just nine months many of these paddlers have advanced dramatically with impressive race results. As one parent put it, “This race on the Legacy was a fitting end to the season for the slalom legacy that was initiated on the course at the start of the season.”

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