Saturday 4th March saw the 2023 Junior & U23 5K Series come to an end. It was a great day of racing on the lake at Salmon Leap CC, and really exciting to see so many competitors out on the water fighting for the overall podium positions. Particularly in the Junior categories it was fantastic to see such a high level of participation. Throughout this event the support from clubs, parents and coaches has been a credit to how the sport of flatwater paddling is growing.

The 5k series provided some thrilling racing and some close battles for the overall podiums. The biggest win of the series was still seeing so many young paddlers out racing and enjoying themselves on the water. To keep the up and coming generation of athletes excite we continue to offer the 2.5K event, providing a great highlight to see so many young paddlers starting their journey in flatwater racing. The final standings of the series can be found below –

U23 Mens

  • 1st. Paul Donnellan
  • 2nd. Eavan O’Keeffe

U18 Boys

  • 1st. Ben Higgins
  • 2nd. Finn Harris
  • 3rd. Sean Durkan

U18 Girls

  • 1st. Kate O’Halloran

  • 2nd. Jennifer Guest
  • 3rd. Orla Glennon

U16 Boys

  • 1st. Conor Donnellan

  • 2nd. Noah Harris
  • 3rd. Sean Smyth

U16 Girls

  • 1st. Emma O’Halloran

  • 2nd. Lucy Cullen
  • 3rd. Emily Roche

U14 Boys

  • 1st. Sean Noud
  • 2nd. Liam Durkan
  • 3rd. Niall Reynolds

U14 Girls

  • 1st. Eabha Smyth

  • 2nd. Sadhbh Benn Scanlon
  • 3rd. Sita Manhon

2.5k Novice Race

  • 1st. Alia Harris

  • 2nd. Ethan Noud
  • 3rd. Cormac Benn Scanlon

There is also a Trophy which has been awarded since 2016 to the fastest Junior Boy and Girl from the individual time trial events. This year Kate O’Halloran recorded the fastest Junior Girls time of the series with a time of 27:37 minutes and Ben Higgins set the fastest Junior Boys time of the series with a time of 21:35 minutes. Congrats to both on some brilliant performances.

A massive thank you again to all the sponsors, volunteers and supporters who made the series possible, and helped ensure we can provide these brilliant experiences for our young paddlers.

#HerMoves

With the launch of the Sport Ireland HER Moves campaign, aimed at encouraging more teenage girls to stay active in sport, it is important to celebrate the huge increase of girls out racing in this competition. As we complete the 7th year of this series we are thrilled to see the levels of participation of young girls out racing! In the 1st event held, there were only 8 girls competing throughout the series, this year we saw 22 girls out on the water! This is a credit to all the clubs and their coaches working to bridge the gap of girls and boys competing- Long may it continue!