Podiums and progress: celebrating sprint and paracanoe success in 2025

World Championships
Over five days of competition, the British sprint and paracanoe team brought in nine medals at the World Championships in Milan, Italy. 

Charlotte Henshaw MBE and Laura Sugar MBE both earned golds on a glittering Saturday of action. Henshaw was first to strike gold, as she powered to victory in the KL2 200m.

Sugar followed her onto the top of the podium less than 10 minutes later in the KL3 200m, joined by compatriot Hope Gordon, who took bronze. Ed Clifton also earned bronze in the VL2 200m to earn his first medal at a World Championships on a memorable day for Great Britain.

On the second day of finals, there were victories for Dave Phillipson and Hope Gordon. Phillipson, 36, triumphed in an absolute thriller of a KL2 200m final to take his first World Championship title.

“My technique and mental strength pulled me through,” said Phillipson, “It was tight that one. Our division is getting closer and tighter. Next year I’ll be pushing harder. But I’m buzzing, I didn’t think I had that in me.”

Six minutes later, Gordon, fresh from her KL3 200m bronze on the day before, won gold in the VL3 200m. Gordon produced a dominant performance to win by over two seconds while Henshaw took second, adding to her KL2 200m gold.

Emily Lewis and Jeanette Chippington also medalled, claiming well-deserved bronze in the K1 200m and VL2 200m finals respectively.

“I’m just really pleased I put something down that was one of my best races,” says Emily. “It felt really good, it felt solid. Conditions were hard today, it was quite bumpy and chucking it down, but I had so much fun.”

European Championships
The start of the season saw the sprint and paracanoe team achieve a further nine medals during the European Championships in Racice, Czechia.

The start of the season saw the sprint and paracanoe team achieve a further nine medals during the European Championships in Racice, Czechia.

Charlotte Henshaw completed the KL2 Grand Slam with a dominant performance. She had earlier claimed second in the VL3 final before she stormed to victory in the KL2.
On winning the Grand Slam, Henshaw said: “It was something that we had in the back of our minds going forwards in this competition. We don’t always race at the Europeans, so to have a bite at the cherry is really nice and to deliver when you’re feeling very human is something that I’m very proud of.”

The same day also saw Hope Gordon and David Phillipson take home gold. Gordon produced a superb performance in the VL3 women’s final to finish first with a time of 54.221. In the following race, Phillipson dug deep to finish first in the KL2 men’s final.

Jonny Young delivered a sterling performance in the men’s KL3 final to claim silver, while Taylor Gough secured a bronze medal in his international debut in the men’s VL1 final.

“I’m absolutely buzzing with that,” said Gough. “I heard my mates shouting the whole way, and that gave me the energy to find those second, third and fourth gears. It’s great to represent my country.”

Laura Sugar once again cemented her position at the top of the KL3 on the final day of action.

Ed Clifton also went on to win men’s VL2 silver, whilst Stuart Wood won men’s VL3 silver. It marked Clifton’s first-ever international medal after switching to paracanoe in 2021.

Poznan World Cup
Seven more medals came from the World Cup in Poznan, with Henshaw, Sugar, Gordon, Phillipson, and Stuart Wood all taking to the podium.

Beth Gill stormed to silver in the women’s C1 5000m final, having worked herself into second early on. She said: “I was definitely a little bit nervous at the start, I took the first turn well and then it was for me just finding my rhythm, staying relaxed, which a very good paddler told me to do last week, and then just enjoy it.”

Emma Russell followed her onto the podium in the next race as she survived a hectic women’s K1 5000m final, with Russell keeping a calm head to come home in third.
The final paracanoe action of the weekend saw Jon Tarrant finish just outside the medals with fifth in the men’s KL3 200m, which marks his highest finish in a World Cup.

One team
Through a 2025 season of change, the sprint and paracanoe teams have taken great strides forward. Deborah Kerr, Zoe Clark, Kristina Armstrong, Emily Lewis, Emma Russell, and Lucy Lee-Smith have all competed in K4 this year, a team which soared into the K4 500m A final at the World Championships, Euros and World Cups, whilst Tom Lambert qualified into multiple canoe B finals, achieving lifetime bests.

Xander Van Der Poll and Tom Price made their international A final debuts at the World Championships, whilst Jon Tarrant finished just outside the medals in KL3 with fifth place, marking his highest finish in a World Cup.

Tom Lusty, Dan Johnson, Tom Holland, Benji Cabrera, James Russell, Jack Eyers, Rob Oliver, Phil Miles, Matt Collinge, Abi Burgess, Amy Green, and Lindsay Thorpe all represented Britain in performances which showed the growth of the team as a whole. Newly appointed performance director, Ekaitz Saies, looks at the 2025 season as a success.

He says: “Our main goals this year were to create a team culture that allows our athletes to rise to the occasion, to race with courage, and to embrace the pressure. Although not everyone achieved their individual targets, I believe we collectively met all of ours as a team.

“These results give us the confidence to go further, to train with more purpose, push harder, and aim even higher. We are building something special together, and we will protect it, nurture it, and keep growing stronger.”