21 May 2019

Henshaw and Wood’s golds headline medal deluge at Paracanoe Europeans

Charlotte Henshaw was ecstatic to bounce back from a disappointing run and leave with a first European title on a medal-heavy day for Great Britain at the Paracanoe European Championships.

Henshaw’s victory in the women’s KL2 – which added to her World Championship triumph last year – was one of six British medals on day two in Poznan.

Emma Wiggs secured silver in the same event, while Stuart Wood struck GB’s other gold in the men’s VL3, as Nick Beighton, Jeanette Chippington and Laura Sugar all took home bronzes.

Henshaw is a two-time Paralympic swimming medallist but since switching to paracanoeing in early 2017, she has clinched world and now European titles.

In strong winds, the 32-year-old produced a brilliant time of 49.022s to win the KL2 final, with compatriot Wiggs – who won gold in the VL2 24 hours prior – taking silver.

“I wasn’t too happy with my performance in the heats – it felt like I didn’t really deliver an optimal performance – so it was really important for me to reset and forget about it,” explained Henshaw.

“That was what I was most pleased about – that I could put down a good run after being disappointed about the day before.

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There are a lot of learnings and I’m pleased to come away with my first European title.

Charlotte Henshaw

“It’s testament to how prepared we are that we managed to get everyone down the course successfully despite the conditions.”

Wood took gold in the men’s VL3 final – his first international competition in the event – as he initially finished second behind Vladyslav Yepifanov, only for the Ukrainian to be disqualified and Wood to be promoted to gold.

Yepifanov’s disqualification also pushed another Brit, Beighton, into bronze – a medal that was matched by 2016 Paralympic champion Chippington in the women’s KL1, with a time of 56.556, just over a second behind the winner.

And former sprinter Sugar – who has only been a paracanoeist for around six months – also won bronze in her first international event, the women’s KL3.

The 28-year-old made an incredibly fast start to build an early lead but the treacherous conditions saw her fall to third, although she was still ecstatic to leave with a bronze medal as she targets further improvement.

“I’m very pleased – it was tough out there, very windy and I was just happy to avoid falling in at the end! It was great to get bronze,” she smiled.

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I fell in the other day, so I’ve rectified that!

Laura Sugar

“It was great to see the set-up on the start line and just get race practice in – so far, so good, I’ve learned a lot.

“Once I got the technique, I’ve taken loads of time off my runs since Christmas. There’s still a lot to work on but the transition has been quite smooth so far and I’m enjoying it.”

Picture credit: British Canoeing

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