The second day of the 2017 ECA Paracanoeing European Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, brought the last three finals of the championships. Esteban Farias, Markus Swoboda and Serhii Yemelianov are the winners of men’s paracanoeing kayak events.
The competition in paracanoeing is getting stronger and stronger, especially now when paracanoeing is part of the paralympic programme. Paddlers who won the first editions of top level international competitions a few years ago with big advantage now fight for the medal with many other athletes and only a few thousands of a second decide who the champions are.
In men’s KL2 200 metres event, however, Austrian Markus Swoboda still holds the European Champion title in his hands. In Sunday’s final he won his second gold medal of the championships, after he finished Saturday’s VL2 event also in the top position. Mykola Syniuk from Ukraine picked up silver medal and Nichols Beighton from Great Britain bronze medal.
“I am satisfied. This year I started in the Va again. I stopped paddling in this boat in the beginning of the 2015 because of the Paralympic kayak, but this year I said, ok, I still have the boat and paddle, let’s go for it! I was not the most ambitious guy over the winter, but I still managed to stay in the shape. Others I think did not do as much as well, but still I am happy,” said Markus Swoboda.
In the first final of the day, in men’s KL1 event, Italian paddler Esteban Farias crossed the finish line ahead of Ian Marsden from Great Britain and Robert Suba from Hungary. The difference the first two positions was only 0.384 second.
In the final paracanoeing event of the European Champiosnhips in Plovdiv reigning Paralympic Champion Serhii Yemelianov from Ukraine picked up another gold medal. He was the best in men’s KL3 final. Robert Oliver from Great Britain picked up silver medal to conclude another very successful championships for the British paracanoeing team, while Leonid Krylov from Russia won bronze medal.
