Melksham’s canoeist wins silver at world championships

Local canoeist Alex Edwards has won a silver medal at the ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships in Germany.

Alex, representing Great Britain, won silver in the men’s kayak squirt category at the championships in Plattling last month.

He missed out on gold to GB teammate Sam Wilson who snatched victory in a thrilling all-British final with a world-record score.

It was Alex’s fourth World Championship silver medal in squirt – a form of whitewater kayaking that uses an ultra-low volume kayak designed to submerge fully, allowing the paddler to perform complex manoeuvres both above and below the water’s surface.

Alex is also a two-time World Cup champion, two-time European Champion and has competed internationally for more than 20 years.

“The biggest positive was achieving my highest-ever score in prelims, then beating that twice in the final,” said Alex, who trains daily on the River Avon in Melksham. “This was easily my best-ever performance, showing the hard work in training is continuing to pay off.

“The event presented a lot of challenges, with uncertainty around the schedule due to fluctuating river levels. It meant being in a constant state of readiness for when things changed – but at the same time trying to stay relaxed and not waste energy worrying about things I couldn’t control.”

Reflecting on this year’s result, he said, “Overall I’m pretty happy – whilst silver isn’t the result I wanted, the performance I put together was the best I’ve ever done.”

In squirt kayaking, competitors have one minute to perform as many complex tricks and moves as possible, using the natural features of the water and manipulating both surface and underwater currents.