Lincoln Qualify for Hasler Final

Lincoln qualified for the Hasler Final, the culmination of a year of regional marathon races, by finishing in third place in the Midlands Region. Only a small team of 7 K1s, 1 K2 and 1 Lightning paddler travelled to Richmond, on the River Thames, for one of, if not the, biggest canoeing race of the year. Conor Simmons was our only Lightning representative and took a great second place in the Under 10 Boys race. Jason Smith, racing as usual for the RAF, was the winner of Div 4, closely followed yet again by Lewis Smith. Both were promoted to Div 3 and Lewis was also presented with the Ross Warland Memorial Trophy as the highest placed junior in Div 4. Abbie Fisher raced in the largest field of the day, 56 paddlers in Div 7, so well done to her. The winner of the Hasler Trophy is the club with the highest number of points from it's best 6 K1s and best 3 K2s. With only Graham and Sue Simpkin paddling in K2 we were never going to do very well and finished in 24th place from the 35 clubs represented. Historical note: Lincoln Canoe Club won the Hasler Trophy for four consecutive years from 1964 to 1967. This was a record which stood for 37 years. Lincoln was also placed second on two occasions, in 1986, when we hosted the event, and in 1989.