2022 Freestyle World Championships

The Paddler magazine attended the 2022 World Championships, which was a worlds to remember.

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Antony Edmonds
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2022 Freestyle Worlds

After years of hard work, worldwide chaos, postponements, and talk of a closed competition, the event stood on the precipice of collapse.

And then…

Ultimately a triumph of worldwide freestyle! Competitors from 20 countries across six continents united for the 2022 Freestyle World Championships at the home of British freestyle, the white water centre at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, Great Britain.

After being postponed in 2021 due to Covid, this year’s event wasn’t entirely free of the lurgy: Japan’s Yoshiko Suematsu and USA’s Jordan Poffenberger were forced to pull out after testing positive. Dane Jackson (USA) arrived on the eve of team training fresh from a podium finish at the North Fork Championships, only to test positive on arrival. He only made it out of isolation the day of the preliminary rounds. Hometown hero Robert Crowe isolated himself after his household suffered an outbreak in the week preceding the competition.

Which powerhouse nation could top the medal table? Could Ottilie Robinson-Shaw possibly do the treble and win in all three events she entered? Could anybody even come close to her? Where would our dark horses land? Could anybody touch Abby Holcombe in the Junior Women? How would the battle between friends GB’s Ben Higson and Germany’s Tim Rees play out? Could Dane Jackson win with such a short training period? And how about EJ and the new kid on the block, Apex Watercraft’s new boat, the Rebound? Which nation would top the medals table?

All this was in the air, but first of all – a castle! Knights in shining armour! A display of athletic prowess. The opening ceremony, playing tribute to Nottingham’s history, was one the athletes will never forget.

Day 1 was a showcase of the niche side of the freestyle categories. The Squirt class kicked the whole event off, followed by Open Canoe (OC1). Ottie dominated the Women’s Squirt category from the get-go with a ride of 1,304 points, followed by another scoring over 1,500. GB’s Tamsyn McConchie was hot on her heels scoring over 1,000 points and securing second place going through to the semis, with Japan’s Hitomi Takaku comfortably in third. Several Irish juniors showed off their flatwater skills in float boats, throwing move after move and advancing to the next round. The Men’s Squirt followed with GB’s Alex Edwards moved through to the semi-finals in pole position, followed by legendary American squirt boating veteran Clay Wright.

In the OC1 class, USA’s Landon Miller proved that you could throw big scoring moves in an open boat! Smashing out a single ride of 400 points, nobody could touch him.

The first-ever Women’s C1 World Championship debuted on the first day of competition. The GB women cemented themselves as the nation to beat in this new discipline, each competitor laying down impressive scores. Three Brits and two Germans made up the top five, with many other nations rounding the cut to 10. A tie break in 9th pushed 11 women through to the semis.

The Junior Women’s K1 preliminaries rounded off the day, and they lit it up, opening the K1 categories with a bang. Long gone is the Junior Women’s game plan of spin it to win it. Nobody played it safe, as is usually the case in the preliminaries, with each woman going out to show her skill. Some spectators were overheard describing it as “like a final”. And this was just the third day of competition. Abby Holcombe went through to the semi-finals in the top spot, followed by two British girls, Niamh Macken and Isabella Wormall. Ireland’s Beibhin Butler was just behind after also earning her spot in the Women’s C1 semi-final.

Day 2: Semi-finals already? Squirt and Women’s C1 would be cut down to just five paddlers. Squirt-boating tends to follow a formula without a freestyle feature’s unpredictability. The best paddlers are unlikely to underperform, so the order didn’t change much. In the men’s, Alex Edwards advanced through in pole, followed by USA’s Clay Wright and Taft Sibley and GB’s Jamie Austen and Sam Wilson. Just two nations would battle it out for a world title.

In the women’s, Ottie Robinson-Shaw continued her dominance with a single ride of 1,920, enough to beat the men by a significant margin. Tamsyn went through in 2nd place, followed by Hitomi, USA’s Anna Bruno, and Ireland’s first female squirt finalist, Alex McClure.

Women’s C1 Semi-final

For the first time, Ottie had her dominance challenged by GB teammate Tamsyn, whose first ride put her ahead of Ottie. It was not for long, however, as Ottie answered back with her next ride, showing the consistency she has had in her McNasties since her days as a Junior. Fellow British paddler Rebekah Green advanced into the final in 5th. Qualifying just ahead was Beibhin Butler and German paddler Anica Schacher.

The K1 Men’s preliminaries are typically the largest class of the competition, cut down to just 20 paddlers for quarter-finals. Tactics are tricky as you only have two rides, and they both count. It was thought that around 1,500 points from two rides would be enough to see you safely through to the next round, and the cut-off turned out to be 1,546.

Eric Jackson unleashed the Apex Watercraft Rebound, the only one of its type in existence. The Rebound is a solidly built, remarkably lightweight freestyle machine, made primarily with the Columbus Worlds in mind. EJ barely missed the cut in 22nd place with a score of 1,453. Also missing the cut was Germany’s Fabian Tausch, who finished just ahead of EJ in 21st. Tausch would later be seen sporting an Apex Watercraft branded top during the week, having committed to switching from Gui Gui to the new kid on the block.

He wouldn’t be the only athlete either: Poland’s Tomasz Czaplicki, having finished in pole position with two super consistent rides earlier in the day, also announced that he would be making the switch, having left Jackson Kayaks earlier in the year for Gui Gui. He will now be in his third boat within a single season.

GB men impressed. All qualified for the next round, with four of the five within the top 10, ahead of Dane Jackson, who was still getting to grips with the feature, having qualified in 10th. Also moving through were Ireland’s David McClure and Spain’s Quim Fontané Masó. Dave qualified in 3rd, Quim in 4th, and the USA’s Mason Hargrove advanced in 5th.

Most impressive of the day was GB’s Robert Crowe, finishing the day in second with the single highest scoring ride of 1,686.87, enough to qualify him with just that single ride alone. Rob’s opening salvo was a thing to behold: Lunar link Tricky Loop to Lunar Loops both ways! To top this feat off, included within the ride was a Space Jam remastered, thrown in an ICF competition for the first time!

With seconds to spare at the end of a stellar ride, Rob threw a Space Godzilla, linked to Space Godzilla in the opposite direction, linked to a loop. A real buzzer beater! Finishing in style, with a guttural yell, Rob had announced his arrival! 

Notable losses of the day’s tough competition were Australia’s Jack Newland, who has an unusual style but superb Lunar Orbit, and Ireland’s Tom Dunphy, who looked so good in training. He would be a regular sight along the banks prepping and cheering on the Irish athletes as they competed.

It was heart-warming to see a single Ukrainian, Dmytro Mostovy, receiving the full support of the home crowd as every nation cheered him on. Lone Danish paddler, Max Topp-Mugglestone, would also be adopted as an honorary cheerleader by team Canada. Despite their relatively small size, they became one of the loudest-cheering squads of the event.

Day 3 saw Men’s C1 and Women’s K1 athletes for the first time before the evening finals for Squirt and semis for OC1. The Men’s C1 started the day. GB’s James Ibbotson, ‘Ibbo’ – put his stamp on the competition, qualifying in the top spot, with a strong showing from the French and American contingents. Both nations have been historically very dominant in C1, and both have produced world champions. GB would, unfortunately, lose veteran paddler Adam Ramadan who narrowly missed the cut. He had been paddling the best of his career throughout training but couldn’t turn it on for the competition.

The Women’s K1 was slated to cut straight from prelims to semi-finals, allowing only ten paddlers to advance, with the number of entries just a couple short of meeting the ICF requirements for a quarter-finals round. After an athlete-led petition, gender parity was restored, and quarter-finals, with a cut to 20 rather than 10, would go ahead. The athletes and officials were pleased to see the change and the crowd was certainly glad to see more freestyle.

The ICF will hopefully take note and look into their rules surrounding the preliminaries, especially after the Men’s K1 event at last year’s European Championships cut straight from prelims to semi-finals, a ruthless cut with such a strong field. The Junior Men certainly felt the brutality this year, cutting straight to semi-finals and losing two-thirds of the competitive field in the preliminaries alone.

In the Women’s, Ottie looked to go huge right away and put together two rides. While she did just enough to finish top, this was not her best showing. Welsh Hero Lowri Davies was just a few points behind, qualifying in second with impressive moves of her own and picture-perfect Lunar Orbits. After a nervous wait, five of a possible six GB women made it through to the quarter-finals.

Japan’s Hitomi struggled out of the gate, benefiting from the increased cut to 20 as she finished in 11th place. Ireland’s Aoife Hanrahan was undoubtedly the talk of the town with her textbook wingover entry move.

Day 4. The Junior Men had the longest wait of all competitors to get going. In the Junior Men’s K1 preliminaries, Germany’s Tim Rees had two incredibly consistent rides to put him top. His friend and rival Ben Higson finished in 2nd with Japan’s prodigy Nanase Okazaki in 3rd, closely followed by Ireland’s Rory Kearney in 4th and New Zealand’s Matteo Williams in 5th.

In the Squirt Boating finals, Ottie Robinson-Shaw displayed her flatwater freestyle prowess after a cold winter spent in the sea practising super-clean splitwheels. This paved her way to victory, scoring 1,613 points, a score that would be untouchable even by the men. Fellow GB athlete Tamsyn finished with a silver medal. She displayed a quickness not seen in other squirt boaters, flowing move to move with rapidity. Finishing in 3rd was Hitomi.

Many expected her to challenge Ottie for the squirt title, but it was the pair of GB ladies that stood atop the podium. Would Ottie and team GB have more medals to come?

It was hoped that the GB Squirt Men would follow suit, and for a brief moment, team GB stood with an athlete in the gold, silver and bronze medal positions, complete podium supremacy going into the third and final rides.

It had been an extremely tense final. Several athletes’ rides drew, and others were within mere points of one another. This was all before USA’s squirt master Clay Wright snatched victory from the jaws of defeat! Fellow USA athlete Taft Sibley improved his score on his final ride with a spectacular Mystery Move that was just enough to take the bronze medal, with GB’s Alex Edwards earning himself another silver medal.

The K1 Women’s quarter-finals saw Austrian paddler Denise Liane Rebnegger sneak into the semi-finals in 10th position, ahead of Poland’s Zofia Tula. The latter many were surprised to see not make the cut. Ottie showed what she was capable of, putting down two rides of well over 1,000 points each, the first time the 1000-point barrier had been broken in a Women’s K1 worlds event.

She was followed in 2nd position once again by Lowri Davies. Marlene Devillez came in 3rd, Emily Jackson put in a solid performance to get 4th, and GB’s Emma Witherford finished in 5th, putting half of GB’s women in the top five going through to the semi-finals. Hitomi qualified in 7th: to the surprise of many; she struggled with the feature. Had age finally caught up with the 40-year-old former world champion? She appeared to be underperforming but slowly creeping up the leader board.

K1 Men’s Quarter-finals

Always a tricky round, with the two rides of three counting, knowing that the field will be laying down their best. GB’s Gavin Barker barely missed the cut in 11th place, but three GB athletes advanced through to the semi-finals, including Rob Crowe, who finished in 2nd with the highest ride score of the day once more at 1,540 points. David McClure took the lead position with two consistent rides. Tomasz crept down from 1st to 4th, while Dane Jackson was finding his rhythm, finishing in 3rd. Of the top ten, any one of them could make finals.

OC1 final

In the evening, the OC1 final took place. Despite his epic performance in the preliminaries, USA’s Landon Miller missed the cut to the finals. Eoghan Kelly, a fan favourite, had the loudest cheers of the day but could not capitalise on this.

On his third and final ride, Philip Josef would edge out Canada’s Zachary Zwanenberg to become the OC1 World Champion in a tie-break situation. Embraced by his younger brother and the whole German contingent on the banks of the River Trent, he was held aloft in jubilant celebration.

Day 5: K1 Semi-finals and C1 Finals

K1 Women’s semi-final

For the third time in a row, Ottie did enough to go into the finals in the top spot with 810 points. However, Marlene with 733 and Hitomi with 675 points was just behind. Could either of them catch Ottie? The scores from the semi-finals certainly looked close! GB’s Lowri, who had so far been hot on Ottie’s heels, qualifying in second position in both previous rounds, slipped out of the finals, finishing in 7th just behind Emma Witherford in 6th. An excellent showing for the GB ladies, but they would have no doubt liked to have been in the finals and certainly have the skills to back it up. A dark horse of the women’s field that we missed was Denise Liane Rebnegger from Austria, who would go through to the finals in 4th. Emily Jackson rounded out the group in 5th.

K1 Men’s semi-final

Cutting from 10 down to just five would always be challenging with such a depth of field and a tricky feature meaning one slip-up could cost you dearly. Missing the cut was GB’s Toby Marlow. Barely a senior, Toby made the cut to the semi-finals and without the postponement from 2021, this would have been Toby’s last competition as a junior. He will undoubtedly be one to watch and had an exceedingly good showing at this year’s championships. Also not quite making the cut was the silver medalist from Sort at his own home worlds and gold medalist from Argentina, the Catalonian Quim Fontané Maso, not to mention America’s Mason Hargrove.

With next year’s world championship on his home wave, the American will want to deliver a title in his own backyard. Quim’s training partner Dave McClure matched his sister’s squirt boat prowess and made it through to the final, closing the gap between himself and Rob with a ride of 1,626. Rob went through in 2nd with 1,503 points, followed by Tomasz, Dane Jackson and Harry Price. Just 3.3 points separated 3rd from 5th, with Tomasz and Dane drawing on points. Could the boys at the bottom beat the consistency of Rob and Dave?

K1 Junior Women’s semi-final

The first heat of the semis featured the juniors who qualified in 6th to 10th position. USA’s Makinley Kate Hargrove laid down a stonking ride, setting a junior women’s ICF record of 746 points. But the top finishing girls had yet to compete. Abby Holcombe finished 2nd, unable to touch Makinley Kate’s score. Niamh Macken went through in 3rd alongside Austria’s Jasmin Stangl-Brachnik and Ireland’s Beibhin Butler. All three Irish girls finished their worlds campaign in the top ten, while GB’s youngest competitor Isabella Wormall finished 7th. At around the same age as each other, Izzy vs Makinley will be one to watch for the future, especially with a ‘home wave’ worlds for Makinley next year.

K1 Junior Men’s Semi-final

Not to be outdone, the junior men put on a show: Ben Higson and Tim Rees duked it out for the top spot, but ultimately it was Ben who secured the top spot for the final. Nanase qualified firmly in 3rd, followed by Spain’s Max Martinez Barriere and New Zealand’s Matteo Williams.

C1 Women Final

Ottie and Tamsyn sat firmly in 1st and 2nd place going into what would be the first-ever Women’s C1 final, hoping for a repeat of their squirt podium but potentially with fellow GB teammate Rebekah Green alongside them, who qualified in 5th. Germany’s Anica Schacher and Ireland’s Beibhin Butler would look to stop them from claiming all of the medals!

Becky had spent the days between semis and finals training in the feature, adding moves and perfecting her routine to make a play for finals. It paid off big time as she could do enough to finish second with arguably the biggest smile of the event. Ottie showed the women what it means to be consistent with her rides and finish atop the podium. Two out of two so far for Ottie! Anica had looked excellent and certainly had the potential to challenge for a medal, which came in the colour of bronze.

Tamsyn was, unfortunately, unable to perform to the same level that she had shown previously, but she will be an athlete to watch as she will no doubt contend for many medals in the future: this won’t be her last world championships. The first ever C1 Women’s World Championship was a roaring success with a strong showing from many highly competitive athletes. Let’s hope it inspires many more ladies to pick up the single-bladed paddle.

C1 Men’s final

Earlier in the day, two GB athletes, Matt Stephenson and James Ibbotson’ Ibbo’, qualified in 1st and 3rd. GB hoped to earn more medals, having both athletes topping the leaderboard over the previous rounds. Qualifying alongside them was USA’s Landon Miller in 2nd, Frenchman Tom Dolle in 3rd and Dane Jackson in 5th. Matt Stephenson secured the number-one spot going into the finals with a single ride of over 1,000 points, the highest of any C1 competitor.

James Ibbo didn’t look his usual self, unable to show his best, while Landon Miller capitalised and was keen to impress, having missed out on an OC1 finals spot. His opening ride of 980 was enough to win, and he beat this with another ride of 993. In the end, less than 10 points separated 2nd from 4th. Dane Jackson was in 2nd with Tom Dolle in 3rd, leaving the British boys on the outside looking in with Matt in 4th and Ibbo in 5th.

Together with the three GB women, the GB athletes have put the world on notice. They are a nation to contend with in the field of C1.

Day 6. Erupting from the hillside in a cacophony of noise, the rabid freestyle fans were at fever pitch. They banged upon the riverside advertisement hoarding, cheered, waved flags and held banners aloft. Bagpipes blazed their shrill sound as drummers beat on their drums. Each nation’s supporters took turns to move down to the riverside to be closer to the action, in full support of their favoured athlete. Final’s day was upon us…

K1 Junior Women

Knowing that her fellow American had it within her to lay down a record ride, Abby Holcombe would need to pull it together to secure her first world title. Being the eldest in the field, many thought it was a done deal, and victory was all but secured. On her first ride, nerves got the better of her as she flushed. Starting the day with zero points is never a good position. The pressure was on!

GB’s Niamh Macken threw down some huge moves in her first ride to score 346 points. It was a nail-biting wait to see if anybody could top her, and in the event, all but one competitor fell short: Abby rose to the challenge on her second ride and put together a ride to take the top spot. End result? Gold for the USA, silver for GB and a bronze medal to go with her record-breaking ride for Makinley Kate.

The Junior Women are here to stay. They have laid down the gauntlet of what is possible, and the moves needed to earn a place on the podium are incredible. The standard has rocketed up, and this is now arguably one of the most exciting categories to watch.

K1 Junior Men

Ben Higson and Tim Rees’ duels had been exciting throughout the rounds. Would they take 1st and 2nd? Or could they be distracted trying to outdo each other and let Nanase Okazaki slip into the lead?

Their styles are fast and furious, similar to that of Toby Marlow, but ultimately not as polished as the Senior Men. However, they are lightning quick and light in a boat, allowing them to use the surfer’s left pocket to their advantage and retain the feature where a heavier paddler would not.

Ben vs Tim – round three!

Having both beaten one another to advance to the top spot, they now drew at one apiece. It was a tight-run thing. Tim’s first ride was his highest, scoring at 1,386, and Ben wasn’t far behind at 1,260. He put together a whirlwind of a ride on his third and final run, going huge on his final move, and just needed to land a loop to secure the title, but it wasn’t to be. Fine margins are what makes this sport so exciting. Ben’s final ride came in at 1,343.

Tim Rees dramatically secured the World Champion title and remains a Junior for the next worlds, while Ben Higson earned a silver medal ahead of Japan’s Nanase Okazaki. Ben will now move into Senior Men and look to follow Toby Marlow and Harry Price’s path. It is no easy path to follow, and he will need to further refine his tricks, with the standard of the GB Senior Men, not to mention those wanting to battle it out for a place, being so high.

K1 Women

Ottie saved her best until last, unleashing a stonking 1,216-point ride, smashing the previous ICF record set only days earlier by herself. The crowd rose to their feet as she finished with a lunar loop! (include time stamp Youtube link)

Hitomi, who had been struggling, found her form on her first ride. It was a nail-biting wait as Marlene was barely behind, and everyone knew her potential to go for huge air bonuses. Ultimately it wasn’t to be for the French woman, who finished with a bronze medal around her neck. Hitomi secured the silver medal. She certainly rose to the challenge throughout the rounds and would be seen training until late at night to get to grips with the feature. It paid off.

But the World title belonged to none other than Ottie, who stood atop the podium for this world championship’s third and final time, cementing herself as a freestyle legend.

K1 Men

This final would feature many contrasting styles, from Rob’s perfection in every single move to Dave’s speed and versatility, Harry and Tomasz’s huge, clean fluidity and Dane’s functional style, choosing to go for less air and work the surfer’s left pocket as the Junior Men had done. The depth of field was impressive, the talent on display was outstanding, and the level of competition was incredible. This would be a test of both skill and mental fortitude.

Cheering on his fellow competitors at the water’s edge throughout their rides was Dane Jackson, no doubt all part of the psychological game plan. From the get-go, all but Dane looked out of sorts, perhaps overwhelmed by the occasion. Years of hard work culminated in this very moment, a moment that it must be said Dane appears to thrive in.

Harry Price was the first athlete to go. He had done just enough in each previous round to make it through. He hadn’t looked his usual self, failing to capture the magnificent rides he had done in training. Power flipping and flushing on his first ride, it looked like the nerves may have got the better of him. That went for every athlete, bar Dane, who was the only one to lay down a podium potential ride in the first round. It wasn’t really until their third and final rides that each athlete turned it on.

On his third and final ride, Harry flushed on his entry move, something he would normally perform reliably. It looked as though this world championships would be over for Harry, leaving him unable to show what he is truly capable of.

Sprinting up the eddy and entering the feature with only 33 seconds left on the clock, Harry paddled as he usually paddles, looking smooth, clean, and going legitimately huge! It was now or never and the man delivered at that very moment. Despite the flush, he scored 1,390 points. One can only wonder: with the full 45 seconds, might he have taken the world title? Harry would have a nervous wait through the other competitors’ rides, but in the end, a bronze medal hung around his neck. He will undoubtedly go higher than this one day.

With two super consistent rides at around 1,500 points, Tomasz, like the music he loves, was explosive and powerful, paddling with a fury rarely seen to score his best rides of the event. He rose to the occasion and did enough to bring a silver medal back to Poland.

Dave McClure and Robert Crowe could not capture their rides of before and finished 4th and 5th. These two paddlers are at the peak of the freestyle pinnacle – even the casual viewer can see the perfection in every move Rob executes – but they will need to hone their big game psychology to earn a world championship title. They both have much to be proud of.

Ultimately, Dane Jackson prevailed against all odds: covid, isolation, limited training time and paddling in the only plastic boat of the finals due to delays in delivery of his carbon Rockstar V.

It might not have been the most beautiful ride or the highest scoring. That honour still belongs to Rob Crowe. But despite the adversity, Dane never flinched, slowly but surely doing just enough in every round. At no point did he lead, but not once did he let it rattle him. Dane did it when it mattered the most, and for a record-breaking fourth time, Dane Jackson is the World Champion, further cementing his status as a freestyle legend alongside Ottie.

THE WORLD OF FREESTYLE TODAY

There are few professionals within this sport, and most athletes train around full-time work and studies. Notable exceptions to this are USA’s Dane Jackson, a full-time athlete, cruising the world’s water courses from tiny technical holes to giant 100ft+ waterfalls. This man has been surrounded by the pageantry of international competitions since birth.

Others dip in and out of this. With little sponsorship or money within the sport, they save for years, quit jobs, move into vans to chase the dream, and live a paddling lifestyle.

Ottilie Robinson-Shaw trains full-time by means of living in a van at a campsite down the road from the course. Ottie has shown how hard work, quality coaching and a relentless training schedule can pay off. It is all too easy to forget that this is, in fact, her first Senior World Championships. She threw moves that have never before been performed by any other women – in competition or otherwise.

She is now the ICF record holder for a K1 Women’s single ride score, a record she broke multiple times and is the first male or female athlete to win three senior titles at a single world championship. She is entirely in a league of her own.

On top of this, she has inspired a host of Junior Women, who will be eager to earn their world championship crowns as the years roll by. With the clan of young ones moving up through the ranks, Ottie will have to work to stay on top. Notably, the American contingent of juniors mainly live and travel with their parents in RVs, driving from river to river and competition to competition. Europe’s youth are primarily from grassroots clubs and centres, striving to make the national team and training during evenings and weekends.

A festival of Freestyle

Surrounding the event was the addition of a freestyle festival, featuring a Masters event, Downriver Freestyle, Synchro Freestyle, World’s Biggest Loop competition, Younguns freestyle, Nottingham Freestyle League (NFL) and an ICF development camp.

The biggest crowd was for the Younguns freestyle, a home-grown event by Matt Chadder and Aaron Dempsey, with Jackson importer Square Rock supplying boats and plenty of priceless volunteers lending their time. The event aims to provide an introduction to competition in a safe, relaxed manner. Rafts, hot dogs, paddle spins and swims all ensued.

The NFL (or WFL… World Freestyle League, as it became for the week) allowed paddlers of all abilities to compete with each other across multiple events in the many different features of HPP. The unique nature and scoring of the league mean it’s not necessarily the best paddler throwing the highest-scoring moves who walks away with the overall win. In the event, 12-year-old Sophie Macken edged a legend of the sport, Hitomi, in a tie-break situation for the overall win. She will be one to watch in the future.

The Master’s event had three different age groups with different disciplines competing in various features. It was exciting to see Ian Whitcombe at 62 years old, rocking the new Rockstar V, taking on EJ, Clay and Jessie Stone at their own game in the Mixed Masters super final, in which EJ won the first ever ICF Masters world title in his age group. It would be wonderful to see more Masters events in the future. It is an area that will only grow as the sport becomes more popular and more competitive, and age becomes a factor. It works in other sports like golf, and who doesn’t want to see the giants of freestyle add to their ranks and compete for many years to come.

The ICF development camp provided a week of high-quality coaching in the run-up to the competition, supplying coaches in the form of Dan Daley, Chris Brain, John Best, Lowri Davies, Eric Jackson, Mike Shaw and Bartosz Czauderna.

It was a well-run camp where every participant learned new skills and refined techniques, predominantly concentrating on developing Women’s C1 and youth freestyle athletes from across the globe.
Medal table and table analysis

Team USA took home the ICF award for best national federation overall ranking with four gold medals from ten finalists. It is a title they will be keen to keep next year when they host the world championship in Columbus, Georgia, on ‘Good Wave’. Expect to see team USA build on this success as many athletes come out of the shadows to showcase their skills at a wave Worlds, for it is a rare occurrence. Team Canada will also undoubtedly be out in full force!

Over a third of the total medals were awarded to a single nation: Great Britain. They may not have taken home the ICF trophy at their home world championships, but on every other metric aside from gold, team GB dominated, putting together an incredible performance across the board that they should all be proud of. It was the most professional team, from the athletes and coaches to the team staff, and it showed with the great haul of medals. The depth of field in each category is outstanding. Of 31 event entries, 15 were finalists, with nine total medalists.

Germany has a bright future ahead. Being home to two world champions is no easy feat, and with a homeworld of their own taking place in Plattling in 2025 and such a strong junior contingent, they’ll be a nation to watch for many years to come. Ireland, while not winning any medals this year, had five finalists.

They have shown just how far they have come in such an incredibly short space of time. The pace of improvement has been rapid, and with the rise of the grassroots youth paddling scene spearheaded by Dave McClure, the future is bright for team Ireland with so much talent moving up through the ranks.

Final words

It may be the first time Great Britain has hosted the ICF Freestyle World Championships, but hopefully, it won’t be the last! This event proved that it is not just about medals and athletic success, but the coming together of a community to share in their love of the sport. British Canoeing, the whole host of volunteers and event organisers, are owed a debt of gratitude by the wider community for putting on such a fabulous world championships.

British Canoeing and Great Britain have set the bar high, and any freestyle world championship will have to go a long way to deliver an event as professional and all-encompassing of the community as this. A true festival of sport took place that will be talked about for years to come; now, only one question remains: does a 2026 European Championships in inlet gate sound good to anyone?