Hawkey competes solidly in final

Jenna Hawkey, from Portreath, is a former pupil of Redruth School

Jenna Hawkey from Cornwall has returned from the U-23 European Championships content, but vowing to learn from the competition and improve her strategies.

Hawkey and partner Abi Edmunds raced in the K2, 1000m final after finishing with the 4th fastest time in the heats.

Both 500m specialists Hawkey said they went out too hard and finished 9th.

The K4, 500m race was better, and after qualifying for the final with the 8th fastest time, the team finished 6th just 2 seconds behind the winners.

Back home in Portreath, Jenna said: "In the K4, the competition was a bit tougher than we expected, although we did manage to reach the final and it worked out better than we thought.

"It was a brilliant race and we got a personal best and it made up for a disappointing K2.

"We were really pleased with our K4 especially as Angela Hannah and Victoria Towers from Nottingham have only been kayaking for two years.

"We've got to learn from the races and improve our strategies, but the results at the weekend bode well for me to get on the Olympic training programme leading up to London 2012."