Paddlecast

• Thames 200 Recap, Nith Descent Preview, Breede River Recap, & new ski records; feat. Kenny Rice

  The Thames 200 Ultra may only be in its second year, but it’s already one of the fastest growing ultra paddling races in the world. 2025’s race drew some of the UK’s best marathon talent and offered exciting action all the way to the end with finishing times just minutes apart over 200 km for both the relay race and the non-stop solo race.Billy and Betsy recap the Chelmsford vs. Richmond relay battle, speculate on how the race could have gone differently, and what it would have taken for Richmond to successfully defend their title; and recap the K1 solo fight to the finish between Tom Diaper and Isaac Blackman.Scottish K1 Marathon Championships and Nith Descent, 27-28 SeptemberLooking ahead, the Scottish K1 Marathon Championships and Nith Descent, both in southwest Scotland near Dumfries, are shaping up to hold some fun racing in the last weekend of September. The K1 marathon champs will be held on Loch Ken, with a long course of just 14 km. Anyone is welcome to race, regardless of whether you have an address in Scotland!The Nith Descent on Sunday is looking like the perfect descent race for beginners or advanced paddlers alike. High water means that some of the trickier features will be washed out, and racers will fly down the 16 km course at speed. The race starts in Auldgirth (DG2 0UA) and finishes at the Nithsdale Amateur Rowing Club (NARC), with bridges, rapids including “The Boat Stopper”, and beautiful scenery. The race is open to paddlers in all types of craft including canoe, kayak or river SUP (e.g. K1/K2’s, Plastic, Canadian, Slalom, WWR, Sea Kayaks, Wavehoppers).The whole weekend promises to have a fun party atmosphere.Sign up for Scottish K1 Marathon Championships, Saturday 27th September: https://sca.justgo.com/Workbench/i/r/EventsAndBookings/booking-details/E10532457D9DFAF5F5AEC734E51314BFDAC18884 Sign up for the Nith Descent, Sunday 28th September: https://sca.justgo.com/Workbench/i/r/EventsAndBookings/booking-details/239EAC87B3BA0685034DC82B95ED8D4091C81795/ → NOTE: You do not have to have an address in Scotland to race! Simply create an account on Paddle Scotland (about 2 minutes), add the right ticket type for you, and check out.Breede River Canoe Marathon RecapOver in the Southern Hemisphere, winter is coming to an end and the racing season is hotting up. Kenny Rice joins Paddlecast to talk about what differentiates the Breede from other South African river races, and recaps how his race with Mark Keeling went the other day. The Warm Down: Round Gozo Record & Downwind Drag Race LeaderMatthew Schembri joins Paddlecast to talk about his new record for the fastest circumnavigation of the island of Gozo in Malta. And Billy speculates about just how well some of the top talent in the UK might go in Durban based on Terry Miller’s latest splits that have just topped the 2025 Downwind Drag Race tracker.00:23 - Thames 200 Ultra Race Recap: The Closest Races31:04 - Race Previews: Scottish K1 Marathon Championships & the Starsky Nith Descent47:43 - Breede River Canoe Marathon, featuring Kenny Rice59:42 - The Warm Down: New Record around Gozo featuring Matt Schembri, and Downwind Drag Race’s New LeaderUseful Links:Save the Date for the Thames 200 Ultra 2026: https://www.thames200ultra.comCheck out Starsky’s Products: https://starskykayaking.comAsk Rob about Starsky UK or racing at the Scottish K1 Marathon Championships & Nith Descent: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553185212023 or [email protected] the full video of Tom Dawson’s decent of the Nith in August 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4VZcsaDlvA Watch the Breede River Canoe Marathon videos from this year: https://breedemarathon.co.za/video-gallery/ Read more about the Surfski Shack and their Gozo Circumnavigation: https://www.thesurfskishack.com/post/maltese-paddlers-shatter-records-in-round-gozo-circumnavigation Follow Downwind Drag Race on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/downwinddragrace/

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• Győr 2025: Which race was the most exciting? The best races, stand-out paddlers, and event reflections

  Billy and Betsy were both on the ground in Győr, Hungary for the 2025 World Championships which treated fans to thrilling races, surprising upsets, and tactical genius.First up: the most exciting races. As incredible as it is to see one paddler dominate a race from start to finish, or see a crew that hasn’t lost a world title in years earn one more to keep up their streak… The best races have unexpected drama, tension, and uncertainty. The most exciting races are the ones where you don’t know who’s going to win until they’ve crossed the finish line. Where a Spanish crew who finished 4th in 2024 returns to take gold ahead of Hungarian on their home turf, because they’ve spent the last year perfecting their sprint finish after it cost them a medal last year. Where a paddler who hadn’t had an international medal from 2019-2025 earns a podium spot by sacrificing a wash and paddling for miles alone to prevent the woman behind her from catching up.From debating and deciding which races have earned the “Most Exciting” title, Billy and Betsy move onto the stand-out paddlers. Not just the names you know who continued to thrill with their speed and skill, but the up-and-comers who outperformed expectations and started to make a name for themselves on the marathon scene.Finally, Billy and Betsy reflect on the event – what Billy learned from racing and watching races, the insights Betsy gleaned from interviewing podium paddlers about their races, and how this World Championships will stay with them long after the last fan left the stands.#marathoncanoe #marathonkayak #gyor2025 #visithungary #news #paddling #paddlecast

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• Marathon World Championships Preview: Top contenders for "world champion 2025" in Gyor

  For a record 4th time, in the “City of Rivers”, Canoe Marathon World Championships starts in Gyor, Hungary this week. The best of the best will battle for “World Champion 2025” titles on the Danube itself to roaring crowds of local fans.In this episode, Billy and Betsy preview the racing in depth. They start by examining the course, how it's changed since the last time Gyor hosted marathon world champs in 2015, and how the action might play out on the water.Then they review the top contenders for the senior women's and senior men's races, go through their recent results and who's in good form, and commit to predictions for final podiums in the K1 races.Will Melina Andersson take her second world championship title after her dominant performance at the World Games in China? Or will Vanda Kiszli take the title back on her home turf, and show everyone she's not done getting golds yet? Or perhaps the European champion Anna Sletsjoe, who beat Kiszli in a sprint finish, will find some of the same magic she had in Portugal and win in an upset...In the men's race, Mads Pedersen is the defending champion and if it goes anything like the World Games did, he's likely to defend his title successfully. But the field is more competitive in Hungary, and word on the street (river) is that Andy Birkett is in better shape than his lack of international racing might indicate... The doubles racing looks just as exciting, and K2 champion Adrian Boros who's K2 race in 2015 has become the stuff of legends, joins Paddlecast to talk about the course, the home turf advantage, and his strategy with partner Tamas Erdelyi to try and wrestle the crown away from the Portuguese on Sunday afternoon.Betsy and Billy also touch on a few more exciting battles from other races, as well as the highlights that can be expected from the paracanoe racing. 2025 will be the first year that paracanoe is "officially" a world championship event, marking a big step forward in a sport that's been much more about sprint than distance. But the cross-over of top Paralympic sprinters like Serhii Yemilianov and now, in her international marathon debut, Jeannette Chippington, gives a small taste of the potential for marathon paracanoe to grow.03:10 Course Preview (featuring Adrian Boros, and on-the-ground reporting from Billy)13:37 Senior Women's Race Top Contenders (K1 and K2)25:38 Senior Men's Race Top Contenders (K1 and K2)49:48 Best Battles57:58 Paracanoe Preview#marathonkayak #gyor2025 #marathoncanoe #worldchampionships

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• Thames 200 Ultra Race Preview: Top Contenders & Racer Interviews

  The Thames 200 Ultra, one of the most accessible and action-packed ultra paddling races in the world, starts Saturday. After its inaugural year in 2024, this year has more paddlers, more relay teams, and tighter racing!Betsy and Billy preview this epic race in full – what makes it unique, why so many top end marathon paddlers are racing, who the most likely category winners are, and where to expect the tightest racing.Several of the event’s strongest racers joined this episode to talk about why they’re racing, what could be the most difficult parts of the race, and what they’re most excited about. Special thanks to Michael Rees-Clark, Brynde Kreft, Isaac Blackman, Harry Gilbert, Adrian Angell, and the Barbarians C4 team including Tom Barnard and Maria Fisher.Follow all the action this weekend LIVE on Paddler Media YouTube and the Paddle Daily social media accounts.Who are you predicting to win? #thames200ultra #marathonkayaking #ultrapaddling #marathoncanoeFollow the race:Dot watching: https://www.thames200ultra.com/gpstrackingYouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@paddlermedia/streamsFacebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1024665832605840

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• Sella Descent winners in their own words, T200 and more news, ft. Walter Bouzan, Matt Fenn, Tania Alvarez

  It might be the most iconic marathon race in the world. The Sella Descent starts with hundreds of boats on the beach while paddles, held by paddlers, are locked into a cage not dissimilar to the starting gate at a horse race. As soon as hundreds of thousands of spectators finish singing the Asturian anthem, the gates open, and racers break loose.Easily the biggest event of the year for Asturians and many Spanish paddlers, the race also attracts top level international paddlers from many countries including the UK, South Africa, and even Australia. But with incomparably accurate knowledge of Ribadesella, and the advantage of being one of the strongest marathon kayak countries in the world, it was Spanish teams who dominated the podiums in 2025.Walter Bouzan and Alberto Llera combined experience with youth to not only lead the four-boat front pack for the final 9 minutes of the race but then win an incredibly fast sprint finish against equally strong crews. Hungarian legends Adrian Boros / Tamas Erdelyi took silver, while Spaniards Javier Lopez / Pedro Vazquez took bronze. The top team of Llorens / Plaza made some seriously fast attempts to break into the front three, but just couldn’t quite make it round for a podium spot.Billy asked Walter Bouzan about how his race went, what it was like to train with his new partner Alberto Llera, and what his secrets are to becoming a now 12-time Sella winner.South African Matthew Fenn also joins this episode of Paddlecast to give an international perspective, and compare the shallow Sella to the high-volume South African rivers and how that affects race tactics.In the women’s race, longtime Spanish international marathon paddlers Tania Fernandez Garcia and Tania Alvarez Yates finished first, an impressive 1.5 minutes ahead of the next fastest team. They were joined on the podium by fellow Spaniards Amaia Osaba / Llara Tuset, and Irati Osa / Arantza Toledo. Hungarians Panna Csepe / Panna Sinko just missed out on the podium.This was the second win for “the two Tanias” as a team after their K2 win in 2023, and each of them also has a previous win separately. Because the women’s teams’ start positions are far back in the field, Tania and Tania had to overcome a huge amount of boat traffic to win their race – they started #303 and finished 61st overall.Tania Alvarez joins this episode of Paddlecast to talk about how their race went, her 7 year partnership with Tania Fernandez, what it takes to win the race, and how she’d like to see the race evolve in the future.The Thames 200 Ultra is coming up very soon on 23rd August, and entries are still open! This 200km endurance event offers both straight-through and relay race options, and promises to draw some of the fastest endurance paddlers in the country this year. Stay tuned for the upcoming Paddlecast preview episode!In the last few pieces of news, Billy and Betsy recap two recent UK surfski selection races: Hayling Island and the Moray Firth (Scottish National Championships). The news finishes with a brief recap of the Avon Descent which had its first female SUP finisher this year, and a bit of news in the warm down about a failed expedition that’s worth reading about for the lessons learned.01:10 Sella Descent - The Men’s Race02:35 Walter Bouzan, in his own words10:03 Matthew Fenn, in his own words14:44 Sella Descent - The Women’s Race15:51 Tania Alvarez, in her own words24:06 Brits on the podium at the Sella26:12 Thames 200 Ultra preview30:19 Hayling Island and Moray Firth race recaps36:27 Avon Descent40:51 The Warm DownRelevant links:Thames 200 Ultra sign up and information: https://www.thames200ultra.com/race-entry Tashka Goswell’s account of her Avon Descent: https://www.facebook.com/groups/509865939182902 (search “Tashka Goswell”)Tim Haines’ story about his failed expedition: www.facebook.com/whishik.samak/posts/pfbid02fxQWKYRnMFVQPXUCUVkyW3sta8EePXc8SFw2nsWUJzNUsQygEMXWH7H49QiFFw28l

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