Ben Haylett, Jonny Dickson and Sam Leaver became U23 team European Champions on the opening day of the U23 & Junior European Championships in Krakow, Poland.

It was the U23 men's kayak trio of Haylett (Holme Pierrepont), Dickson (CR Cats) and Leaver (Edinburgh Schools) who got the medals underway for Britain, winning their first European title.

Heading into the event as 2024 World team silver medallists from the championships last month, they showed their strength in the event once again. Signalling their intent with a clean and fast time of 106.44 to top the standings, the trio guaranteed themselves a medal with two teams left to go. With France and Spain unable to challenge the Brits, their European title was confirmed.

Haylett said: “I'm delighted to win the gold. It's one that's eluded us previously, silver last season. To do this is brilliant and we all pulled through to get this one over the line. It really shows the quality we have. We all trust each other on the course and believe in our skills. We've all finalled multiple times. We invest a lot of time in the course walks on the day to make sure we're aware of what each of us does.”



Dickson added: “We're very happy to come away with another team medal. We knew we had a good chance and feel we've delivered a solid run. A great final section and staying off the poles makes for a good afternoon.”

Leaver said: “This is a great start to the European Championships. We've got such a strong team again this year and that's really showing in the team runs that we've been doing.”

A fantastic run from Sofia Alfer, Zoe Blythe-Shields and Arina Kontchakov secured the trio a junior women's kayak silver to round off a successful day one of competition.

Read more on the Paddle UK website.