Pippa McGregor grabs early silver at world champs

Salt Rock’s Pippa McGregor grabbed a silver medal in her first outing at the ICF World Canoe Marathon Championships in Portugal.

Held in Ponte de Lima this year, the championships are the pinnacle of canoeing worldwide and draws the top athletes across every category.

Needing to bring her A-game for a medal, McGregor raced in the K1 35-39 age group event on Monday.

Competitors completed four laps and three portages on the way to the finish line, testing their allround paddling ability.

McGregor fought bravely throughout, pushing eventual winner Maria Collueque from Argentina to the end, eventually finishing just over 30 seconds behind.

Her time of 1:24.05 comfortably won her the silver, however, and she was more than nine minutes ahead of third placed Natalia Lallana, also from Argentina.

McGregor’s week is far from over and she was to race the K2 mixed 35-49 event with husband Hank on Tuesday afternoon.

This will be followed by the women’s open K2 event, where she will partner Jenna Nisbet on Sunday.

The mixed event is Hank’s first of the week and he will be hoping to add early silverware to his already bursting cabinet.

He will be back in action for the open K1 men’s short race on Thursday this week, where he will need to qualify through heat 1 to make the final on the same day.

Capping off the week will be his K2 open event on Sunday with partner Jasper Mocke.

Visit canoeicf.com to find updated results throughout the week.

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