At the European Championship held in Szeged (Hungary), as many as 759 kayakers and canoeists from 38 countries competed.
At the European U23 Youth Championship, the highest place among Lithuanians was achieved by brothers Danielius and Dovydas Gauriai. The twins completed the 500 m double canoe distance in 1 min. 52.672 sec. and took 5th place. They lost to the champions by 2.75 sec., and were 2.194 sec. away from the podium.
“Transitioning to the U23 age group, the first year is usually very tough. In the juniors group at the European Championship, we took 6th place, and in the youth group we won 5th place. So a small miracle happened here. We really did not expect that,” said the Gauriai brothers, who last year competed in the U18 age group.
Nedas Zavackis also competed in the A final of the European U23 Championship. In the men’s single kayak 200 m event, N. Zavackis crossed the finish line in 38.954 sec. and took 7th place. He lost to the European champion by 1.384 sec., and was 0.958 sec. away from a medal.
Two Lithuanian canoeing crews also competed in the A finals of the European U18 Youth Championship.
In the men’s single canoe 200 m final, Vanesa Melinauskaitė completed the distance in 54.516 sec. and took 6th place. She was 1.228 sec. away from a prize-winning place.
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Vanesa Melinauskaitė also took another 6th place together with Rūta Marozaitė in the 200 m double canoe competition. In the final, the Lithuanian women completed the distance in 50.817 sec. and were 1.386 sec. behind the prize winners.
V. Melinauskaitė competed in two finals at this year’s World Youth Championship as well. In the single canoe event, she took 9th place, and in the doubles with R. Marozaitė, she took 8th place.
In the overall standings of the European youth and junior championships, as in the world championship held three weeks ago, the most medals were won by Hungarian kayakers and canoeists. The hosts of the European Championship, the Hungarians, won a total of 17 awards – 6 gold, 7 silver, and 4 bronze.
The Czech team took second place, winning 9 medals – 3 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze. Ukrainians were third, winning 5 medals – 2 gold and 3 silver. In total, representatives of 14 countries won medals.
