Category: Club News for the Public

Looking for a fun and competitive K4 racing opportunity? The Reading K4 Multi-Event is your chance to test your crew’s marathon stamina and sprint speed all in one exciting day of racing!

Join us for a unique event that combines 5km mass-start racing with 500m sprint showdowns, giving paddlers a chance to showcase both endurance and raw power in larger K4 boats.

Event Format

Morning Session – 5km Marathon Race
Each crew will race in a mass-start 5km event around the club’s classic course, featuring multiple turns and challenges. Boats will compete in ability-based categories: A, B, C, or D, with Category D completing a 2.5km course.

 All crews will earn points based on their placement in this race.
Afternoon Session – 500m Sprints

Crews will return to the water for two exciting 500m sprint runs:

1. A Time Trial to determine seeding for the finals.

  2. Finals Races – go head-to-head with other boats in 3–4 races
to prove your sprinting power!

Points from the 5km and 500m finals will be combined to determine the overall champions in each category.

Who Will Be Crowned the Top K4 Crew?
Can your team master both distance and speed to take the Reading K4 Multi-Event title? There’s only one way to find out!

 Enter now to secure your place – don’t miss out!
Spots are limited and demand is high – make sure your crew is on the start line (no entries on the day). Scan QR code below.

See details on poster attached and you can find details and enter on the MRC entries website: https://entries.canoemarathon.org.uk/entries/new-reading-k4-multi-event-2025-onPWb2YJ

Reading Canoe Club Juniors Shine on the International Stage

by Imogen Collins

On Tuesday, 16th September, Reading Canoe Club juniors Oli Mazur, Charlotte Fulford-Perez, Ruth Shephard, and Doogal Barnett – joined by Imogen Collins – flew out with the GB Junior Team to the Czech Republic for the Olympic Hopes Regatta. In the lead-up, all athletes trained hard, determined to perform at their best – and they delivered.

Olympic Hopes is a prestigious four-day event featuring U15, U16, and U17 categories with 52 countries competing. Each nation can enter two boats per event, making progression through rounds especially tough. Our athletes’ events were:

• Oli Mazur (U17): K1 500m, K4 500m
• Charlotte Fulford-Perez (U17): K1 500m, K1 200m
• Ruth Shephard (U15, racing up an age category): K1 1000m, K2 500m, U17 K4 500m
• Doogal Barnett (U15): K1 1000m, K1 500m, K2 1000m

Day 1 – Strong Starts

All four athletes rose to the challenge, progressing from their heats into the semi-finals – a brilliant achievement given the high entry standards and international field.

Day 2 – Finals Begin

Ruth stormed into the A final in her K1 1000m, finishing 7th – an outstanding result for an U14 racing in U15. She raced with fierce determination and power well beyond her years.
Doogal raced hard in a competitive C final, gaining invaluable experience at this level and showing strong composure and effort.

Day 3 – U17s Step Up

Oli dominated his K1 500m semi-final to secure a spot in the A final – his main goal for the event. Despite a tight turnaround before the final, he raced bravely and with ambition throughout.
Charlotte, having a fantastic regatta, clocked a new PB of 2:03 in her K1 500m semi-final, just missing the A final. Her grit and consistency across the weekend were hugely impressive.

Day 4 – Big Boats & Final Pushes

Charlotte returned in the K1 200m, flying out of the start buckets with another PB and earning a B final spot. She delivered a composed, determined performance to take 4th – a strong finish to a great weekend.
Oli took his place in the Boys K4 500m, a boat he’s raced all season at Europeans and Worlds. The crew executed a strong semi-final to earn a coveted A final spot – the first GB Boys K4 to do so at Olympic Hopes since 2018.
In the final, the boys fought hard in an incredibly tight race, finishing 4th. Though just missing the podium, it was a performance to be proud of, reflecting their season-long growth and unity.

A Proud Showing

All four athletes showed professionalism, resilience, and maturity throughout the event. Whether it was a first international outing or a final appearance after three years at this regatta, they represented Reading Canoe Club with pride and distinction. As their coach, I couldn’t be prouder to have shared this experience with them.

Big thanks to Mili, Karina, Immi and Matt on the bbq and Miriam for arranging and sorting the barbecue for our last TT and bbq in late September. And to those who came along. A small, select gathering for the Club’s last TT and BBQ for 2025 … thankfully mostly indoors as it was a touch chilly!

Please find below the training plan for the winter season created by the coaching team. It gives even greater opportunity for members to join in training sessions than previous years. Do take a look and check in with your group point of contact to chat through all sessions available to you.

Please note, the winter schedule will officially start on Monday 6th October, but check with your coach to confirm in case they choose to start it earlier.

Thanks

Imogen Collins
Head Coach

Link: 25/26 Winter Training Schedule

The club was delighted to welcome a record number of paddlers to this year’s Hasler – 281 seats, with 56 K2 entries and 169 K1s. We were particularly pleased to see a good turn out from Divs 1 & 2 from within region and outside. It was great to see many Reading paddlers giving it their all, including many new to racing. Newest of all was Sonny, who had only finished his beginners course on 18th June. Sonny completed his Div 9 K1 race in a very respectable time!

Well done to all our podium winners:
Katherine Connor and Karina – 2nd Div8 K2
Matteo and Sam Boughton – 2nd Div5 K2
Amber and Luke – 1st Div4 K2
Xavier MacLeod – Div9 K1 promotion
Ben Saxby – 3rd Div 7 K1 promotion
Nick Gumbridge – 2nd Div6 K1 promotion
Bruno – 3rd Div6 K1 promotion
Matthew Mainprize – 1st Div5 K1 promotion
Balazs – 1st DIv4 K1
Tyler – 2nd Div2K1
Marcell – 3rd Div2K1

There were many others who did a great race too, so well done to all. Great organisation by Karina, Evan and the team and a huge thank you to all the volunteers from the Club – it couldn’t have happened without you.

Thanks to all of you who have joined us for this year’s Reading Circuit Race – it was great to see so many athletes compete on the Reading stretch of the Thames. The weather was mostly forgiving and the competition was fierce but polite. Congratulations to all the winners and everyone who have taken part.

You can find the preliminary results at https://reading-canoe.org.uk/live-results

We hope to see you soon at a Reading race. Look out for details about our K4 race in the autumn soon!

Karina and the Reading Team

You can find the entries for this Sunday’s Reading Circuit race at https://reading-canoe.org.uk/live-results

We will post the live results to the same page during the day as they become available.

A sizeable team of Reading Canoe Club paddlers went out for a warm but breezy Falcon Hasler yesterday, 22nd June.

Congratulations to Greta & Matteo, who both earned provisional promotions with potentially more promotions to come.

Congratulations also to Trevor & Damon(2nd place in Div 6 K2), Karina & Katherine (1st place in Div 8 K2), and Nikki & Kerstin (3rd place in Div 8 K2).

Xavier & Benjamin both got 2nd places in Geoff Saunders A & B respectively, plus a winning K2 outing. Div 3 K2 saw 3 podium boats with Reading paddlers in, so well done to Conrad (with Ben), Doogal (with Ocean) and Aidan & Fergus. 

Bring on our home race in two weeks time!

On Saturday 21st June, a group of 7 paddlers took to canoes to commence with the first river clean of the year. To much of our surprise, the river around the club was pretty much clear of rubbish. Sadly, that changed the closer we came to the Fisheries. An air mat, shopping trolleys and a push chair to name but a few big items we fished out. A lot of small plastic items and bottles as well two chemical toilets all were removed by the group. The most curious item you wonder? A suitcase full of clothes!