Switzerland has lay claim to be one of the world’s leading extreme canoe slalom nations with two gold medals and a silver medal on the final day of the 2021 ICF junior and U23 canoe slalom world championships in Slovenia.

There were also gold medals for Great Britain and the United States, with the Czech Republic finishing the week as the most successful nation.

Dmitri Marx won his second men’s U23 extreme slalom gold, adding the 2021 title to the crown he won in Italy in 2018.

“It’s working well for me,” Marx said.

“After the slalom I was quite disappointed not to make the finals, so this was good for me.

“I think the Swiss have a bit of a different background to most other slalom paddlers, we all start as freestyle or whitewater paddling, and then later move to slalom.”

It was a Swiss quinella, with teammate Jan Rohrer winning silver, with Poland’s Jakub Brzezinski taking the bronze.

Switzerland also won a gold in the women’s junior extreme slalom final, with Jessica Duc taking advantage of a collision between the leading two paddlers, Russia’s Marina Novysh and Czech Tereza Kneblova, to squeeze through from third into first place.

“I was surprised to be first, I was just happy to be in the final, so to be first was incredible,” Duc said.

“I saw I got a chance to get in front, and I was very shocked to get there. This is my first world championships, but I wasn’t too worried. I have to train hard if I want a chance to progress more.”

Novysh finished second, with Kneblova taking the bronze.

Great Britain’s Nikita Setchell had never competed in an extreme slalom race before this weekend, but showed she is a quick learner with a clever win in the women’s U23 final.

“This was my first time, so it’s good to come away with this memory,” Setchell said.

“I had a few tips from some of the experts back home, so that helped me to get through. Your heart really races at the start, which is the nervous bit.

“It’s such good fun and a great spectator sport. It will be exciting in Paris.”

Setchell finished ahead of the highly regarded Czech pair of Martina Satkova and Antonie Galuskova.

The last time American Kaelin Friedenson competed in an international extreme slalom race he lost his paddle and had to complete the course using his arms. There were no similar mistakes on Sunday, with the teenager capping off an impressive day of racing with gold in the juniors.

“It helps a lot to keep hold of your paddle,” Friedenson said.

“I’m so excited to win, I can’t believe it. I’m definitely not the strongest paddler, but I still like attacking it.

“It’s such fun. I do a lot of plastic boating outside of slalom, and this is a great way to bring that into this event.”

Czech Martin Rudorfer picked up the silver, with New Zealand’s George Snook the bronze.

The Czech Republic finished the week as the most successful nation, with 395 points in the ICF Nations Cup. France finished second on 368 points, with Slovakia on 230.

RESULTS – EXTREME CANOE SLALOM

U23 MEN

1. MARX Dimitri        (SUI)
2. ROHRER Jan           (SUI)
3. BRZEZINSKI Jakub (POL)

JUNIOR MEN

1. FRIEDENSON Kaelin   (USA)
2. RUDORFER Martin     (CZE)
3. SNOOK George           (NZL)

U23 WOMEN

1. SETCHELL Nikita         (GBR)
2. SATKOVA Martina      (CZE)
3. GALUSKOVA Antonie (CZE)

JUNIOR WOMEN

1. DUC Jessica             (SUI)
2. NOVYSH Marina    (RUS)
3. KNEBLOVA Tereza (CZE)

Source: ICF

Zadnji dan svetovnega prvenstva v slalomu na divjih vodah za mladince in mlajše člane v Tacnu smo spremljali tekmovanja v ekstremnem slalomu na divjih vodah. V ognju je bilo kar nekaj slovenskih želez, ki pa so v najmlajši kajakaški disciplini obstala pred polfinalno fazo tekmovanja.

V preizkušnji, ki bo leta 2024 na sporedu olimpijskih iger v Parizu in zahteva veliko iznajdljivosti, pomembna pa je tudi sreča, so najdlje prišli kajakašica Naja Pinterič ter kajakaša Tine Kancler in Jakob Šavli.

Naja Pinterič je v konkurenci mladink izpadla v četrtfinalu, kjer se ji je napredovanje v polfinale izmuznilo za eno mesto. Pred njo sta bili namreč uvrščeni Čehinja Tereza Kneblova in Rusinja Marina Noviš. V isti konkurenci sta Ema Lampič in Sara Globokar obstali v osmini finala, saj sta v svojih skupinah zasedli tretji mesti. Svetovna mladinska prvakinja je postala Švicarka Jessica Duc, druga je bila Rusinja Marina Noviš, tretja pa Tereza Kneblova.

V četrtfinalu kajakašev mladincev smo pesti stiskali za Jakoba Šavlija, ki pa je bil v svoji skupini četrti in tako obstal v tej fazi tekmovanja. V izločilnih bojih je nastopil tudi Tit Šenk, a je obtičal v osmini finala. Naslov svetovnega mladinskega prvaka si je priboril Američan Kaelin Friedenson, drugi jebil Čeh Martin Rudorfer, tretji pa Novozelandec George Snook.

Do četrtfinala je prišel še Tine Kancler, ki se je boril v konkurenci kajakašev do 23 let. V prvi četrtfinalni skupini je bil četrti, napredovala pa sta Rus Andrei Pospelov in Francoz Malo Quemeneur. V isti starostni skupini je v osmini finala veslal Marko Petek, a s tretjim časom ni uspel priti do naslednje faze, saj napredujeta le najhitrejša dva tekmovalca. Svetovni prvak med mlajšimi člani je postal Švicar Dimitri Marx, ki je letos imel kolajno v ekstremnem slalomu tudi na članskem EP, drugi je bil njegov rojak Jan Roherer, tretji pa Poljak Jakub Brzezinski.  

V osmini finala pa sta se poslovili tudi mlajši članici Lea Novak in Eva Alina Hočevar. V tej konkurenci je slavila Britanka Nikita Setchell, drugo in tretje mesto pa sta si priborili Čehinji Martina Satkova in Antonie Galuškova.

V kvalifikacijskih vožnjah na čas so slovenske barve branili še Erazem Šavli, Ulan Valant in Martel Stušek, ki pa se niso uvrstili v izločilne boje. Pravila namreč določajo, da ne glede na doseženi kvalifikacijski čas v naslednjo fazo tekmovanja napredujeta le po dva najhitrejša tekmovalca iz posamezne države v določeni kategoriji.

Mladince in mlajše člane avgusta čaka še evropsko prvenstvo v slalomu na divjih vodah, ki bo prav tako organizirano v Sloveniji, in sicer v Solkanu.