Canoeists brave the cold to race on the canal

The Winter Series involves clubs from all over the Eastern region, plus recent addition Maidstone to compete for individual race honours and an overall series championship

Racing is in categories according to age, gender, and type of craft; and so there is an event to suit everyone from new juniors to seasoned super veterans with 40 years experience. There were 23 categories and nearly a hundred competitors. The courses range from the portage free Grove to Leighton lock circuit for the youngest, up to Three Locks and back for the top categories.

The clubs represented included the usual Eastern Region suspects such as a strong Chelmsford team and Bishops Stortford and Cambridge, plus others who are not a part of the series such as Reading and Wokingham. The chance to compete without travelling meant that a lot of the newer juniors at Leighton Buzzard had the chance to compete, some for the first time. This led to Leighton again winning the Dick Grieves Trophy for the club with the most under 12 paddlers in the series.

Many of the standout performances were from those juniors. In the U12s both Lucy Myers and Connor Bates got second places. They were backed up by Aron Deri, Jasper Maldar, and Ethan Tingay to score well. Up an age category the U14s of Sophie Kent got second and Mason Hammett third, backed up by Matthew Anderson and Harry Myers. Going further in U16s Euan Bates and Adam Deri were 3rd and 4th.

In the senior ranks the main excitement was in the mixed K2 event. In second was Kayleigh Dixon who had partnered with a Matty Mole from Norwich. Adam Smith and Becky Greer came third, ahead of the long established pairing of Bryan Handsley and Amanda Morris.