Paddlers to compete in canoe World Championships

Kamila Sklenarova is preparing to compete at the Marathon Canoe World Championships

Four paddlers from the same canoe club have been selected to represent Great Britain at the Marathon Canoe World Championships in Croatia.

From Norwich Canoe Club, Tim Dowden, 23, and James How, 24, will compete in the K2 senior men's category. Kamila Sklenarova, 17, in the junior women’s K1 and para-canoeist Shaun Cook, 38, in the VL2 class.

The five-day competition in Metković, which takes place from 18-22 September, will see canoeists race distances of up to 30km (18.6 miles).

"It's very exciting for the club to have so many competitors heading to this sport's biggest event," said coach Tim Scott.

James How (left) and Tim Dowden (right) will race in the K2 senior men's category

Mr Scott added: "It shows not just their quality but everyone's effort and dedication, which has helped with their development."

Dowden will also race alone in the Under 23 men's K1 category (K1 means kayak for one person). He and his K2 partner, How, have been racing together for nine years.

"I love the tactics and the physical challenge," said Dowden. "Everything changes all the time during a race. But you have to hold on for 30km, as well as be able to sprint."

"We are really close friends and our relationship probably gives us an advantage. We trust each other. If James says we need to go and put the power on, I will respond and vice versa".

How told BBC Look East: "The portages each lap [when competitors get out of the water and run with their boats before getting back in] are a key part. It makes the race dynamic. You have to do it quickly otherwise you will get dropped."

Marathon Canoe is not a discipline included in the Olympics, so for athletes that compete in the sport the World Championship races are the ones to win, said How.

"These World Championships are the top of the top against the best kayakers in the world. It is what we train for," he added.

Shaun Cook started racing competitively at Norwich Canoe Club following a motorcycle accident in 2018

Cook won a silver medal at the 2024 European Canoe Marathon Championships in Poland. He said he was lucky to be alive after being involved in a motorcycle crash in April 2018, which left him on life support at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

The accident left the athlete with a spinal cord injury, which means he is half-paralysed from the chest down.

Cook took up the sport following his accident, which he described as "his crutch", and gave him a reason to get up every day.

"Canoeing helped with my rehab. I got fitter on the water, which allowed me to recover faster".

The 38-year-old later started racing competitively at Norwich Canoe Club.

"I began with sprints but I found I enjoyed the longer distances more. The sport has taken me all around the world. It is amazing to be picked for the British team," he added.

Kamila Sklenarova said she was pleased that she was one of four people from her canoe club competing in the World Championships

Sklenarova moved to Norwich from the Czech Republic and has been training in the sport for the past five years. She said she loved everything about the sport from the people to the racing.

The 17-year-old will compete in her first World Championships in the junior women’s K1 over 16km - which will entail just under two hours of racing - and the K2 category with Sienna Payne from Chelmsford, Essex.

"The distances are not that bad, once you get used to it," she said.

"It is fun. It is exciting. I have been pushing myself in training to try to get selected.

"To have four people from the same club going, I am so happy and cannot wait."