Following the successes at the June Interclub Regatta in Nottingham, Richmond members Arthur Leech and Andras Kereszturi were selected on the GB team for the Junior and Under 23 Sprint European Championships which was held in Račice in the Czech Republic last weekend.
Andras raced in the K4 Junior category teaming up with Fred Kemp of Reading, Ed Nightingale of Wiltshire Youth, and Phil Miles of Royal Leamington Spa. Placing 7th in a competitive heat was enough to see them progress to the semi final where they improved to 6th and made the B Final. After a strong start in their final they settled into the race and approached the final 100m in the pack, crossing the line 4th to place 13th in Europe. Ed will swap seats with the new European Champion for 200m, Dan Atkins of Reading, to race at the World Championships in August.
Arthur was racing in the C1 1000m in his first year as an under 23. The heat and semi-final were both strong races crossing the line 7th in both to also progress to the B Final. In the final Arthur made it down the course in a personal best time of 4:10.920 to place 9th, coming 18th in Europe. He will next be racing at the Marathon Europeans later this month where he will be joined by fellow club paddlers: Tom Sharpe, Lizzie Broughton, Jane Swarbreck and Freya Peters.
Freya will also join Andras and Arthur racing at the Sprint World Championships in August, competing in the K1 Junior Women 1000m event.
