Watersports blog

The authorities finally found a family of three that were reported missing on a canoeing trip down the Mitchell River in far north Queensland.

The family, composed of a mother, father and a seven-year old son, left Mount Carbine at the northern part of Cairns late on Friday but evening has passed and they still have not arrived at the pick up point.

According to reports, a massive air and land search was launched and the State Emergency Service (SES) personnel were also contacted to assist with the search. The authorities then saw the family just before nine in the morning about twenty kilometers off from where they started.

The family stated that they got lost during the canoeing adventure and was forced to take shelter under their canoe while waiting for the rescue team they luckily had waterproofs and were wearing appropriate swimwear.

Rolf Straatemeier of the Mareeba District said that the canoeing party failed to check out the length of the journey and ran out of light but still managed to set camp at a nearby river bank.

A member of the Elmbridge Canoe Club snagged a silver medal at a prestigious canoeing tournament held in Portugal over the weekend.

Ben Brown surprisingly performed well over more experienced contemporaries at the Canoe Marathon World Championships. Hailed as the 2009 Great British national champion, Brown placed second in the senior men’s 30km K1 event.

This is an important feat for the former world junior champion since he’s still new in the senior’s circuit.

Fellow club member Lani Belcher, on the other hand, clinched the bronze medal in the senior women’s K1 class. It was a tough competition among the ladies as the final results only showed a difference of less than a second among the top three.

Mark Childerstone, the 2009 junior national champion, placed 12th in the men’s K1 junior class while Great Britain’s Dean Terry placed second. Childerstone hails from Wey Kayak Club in Guildford.

Yang Wenjun, an Olympic canoeing champion, proved that he’s the best in the sport by clinching three titles at the qualifiers event of the 11th Chinese National Games Canoe and Kayak on Friday, June 26.

Yang dominated the men’s individual 500 meters event by clocking in one minute, 50.95 seconds to edge out Fujian’s Huang Shaokun and Beijing’s Mao Xiaojie who clocked one minute, 52.14 seconds and one minute, 53.74 seconds respectively.

Later in the day, the Olympian and his partner Zhang Zhiwu won the men’s doubles 500 meters event by clocking in one minute, 39.43 seconds. In second place were Guangdong’s Huang Maoxing and Li Qiang. Settling for third were Shandong’s Zhao Jian and Xia Zhigang. His third title was the men’s individual 1,000 meters event which took place last Thursday.

Despite all of these accolades, the Chinese Olympian said that this is just a beginning since the main show happens in October where the National Games officially begin. The canoeing event was attended by more than 400 athletes comprising 22 teams across China. Fifteen teams from each event will battle for glory at the 11th National Games in China later this year.

The Greeks won top honors in the recently concluded European Rowing Championships held in Marathon, Greece. Greek rowing teams won a total of five gold medals last September 22, 2008. Among the top winners were Vasileios Polymeros, Dimitirio Mougios, Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou. Sporting officials say that the Greek team definitely did their country proud.

The European Rowing Championships tool place at the Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing center located in Marathon, Greece. The Grecian city played host for the European games which lasted from September 19 to September 20. The games were delayed for a bit due to bad weather. The rowing championship was then concluded in September 22, 2008.

Greece did not only prove to be a great host. They also proved that they were a rowing force to be reckoned with. The team took home the gold medal for men’s Lightweight double skulls and for women’s lightweight double skulls. Biskitzi and Tsiavou won the latter event. They also won for the same even in 2007. Other gold medal recipients were Ioannis Christou for Men’s Lightweight Single skull and Pavlos Gavriilidis and Georgios Tsiompanidis won for Men’s pair rowing. Team Greece also won the gold in men’s four rowing.