Irish Canoe Slalom's resurgence continues with two canoeists racing in the weekend final of the World Cup in Prague.
Liam Jegou and Jake Cochrane both qualified through to Sunday's top 10 final of the first World Cup race of the season. Finishing in 8th for Liam and 10th for Jake was a statement to their form for both the rest of the season, and for next year's Olympic qualification event.
The 5 race Canoe Slalom World Cup series got off to an incredible start for the Irish Team at the first race in Prague. The seven-strong team were fresh from the European Championships and ready to sink their teeth into the 2022 season. The C1 Men’s team were the outstanding example of this, getting two athletes into Sunday's final, a moment in history for Canoe Slalom in Ireland. For Jake Cochrane, it was his first appearance in the final of a World Cup, coming after a very tense wait in the semi-final. Going off early in the semi’s Jake put down a very composed run on a course that saw many of the World’s best stumble, this run stood up to the test as more paddlers suffered penalties and slotted in behind Cochrane. Liam Jegou similarly kept his cool to put down a solid run on the difficult course, sealing his place in the final with a 4th place in the heats.
Liam Jegou
The final itself was a much more challenging affair, with the 10 athletes having taken a lot of learnings from the semi-final and began taking on the course with a new level of speed. Neither Liam nor Jake could improve on their outstanding performances from the semi-final, finishing in 8th and 10th respectively in the final. While the final itself did not go the way of our two athletes, the moment in history of having two C1 athletes in a World Cup final is still something to be extremely excited about, both for the rest of the season and on the run in to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The third boat of the C1 Men’s team, Robert Hendrick, had a similarly good race, finishing in 18th place in the semi-final after a strong showing in the heats. In the C1 Women Michaela Corcoran also qualified through to her second-ever World Cup semi-final where she finished in 27th place. The K1’s had some more mixed results, with Alistair McCreery getting out of the blocks well to qualify through to the semi-final in 30th. With Noel Hendrick showing some great pace, with penalties, unfortunately, keeping him out of the semi-final. In the K1 Women’s, Madison Corcoran finished in 43rd.
The team now moves on to the next World Cup race in Krakow, Poland, where our athletes have had some extremely strong results in the past.
