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Canoeist wins 125-mile race for third year in row

Leigh Boobyer & Graham Rogers
BBC News, Wiltshire
Henry Carter A man and a woman paddling in a canoe on the River Thames, with the Houses of Parliament in the backgroundHenry Carter
Tom Sharpe and Anoushka Freeman canoed from Devizes to Westminster in 17 hours 17 minutes

A man who canoed 125 miles (201km) without stopping says he is "ecstatic" to have won the annual event for a third year in a row.

Tom Sharpe and his canoe partner Anoushka Freeman finished the Devizes to Westminster race in 17 hours and 17 minutes.

They set off from the Wiltshire town on Saturday at about 18:00 BST and finished in London at about 11:00 BST on Sunday, overcoming "very difficult conditions".

"[The] strong winds didn't stop the whole race. It was in your face the whole time. It's quite energy-zapping and obviously it slows you down," Mr Sharpe told BBC Radio Wiltshire.

This year's annual Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race saw more than 300 people take part and ended on Monday.

The event first took place in 1948, with paddlers making their way to London over the Easter weekend.

Competitors come from all over the world, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and the United States.

Tom Sharpe A man and a woman looking up at the camera by the bank of the River Thames smiling, with a canoe next to themTom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe (left) won the race for a third year in a row and Anoushka Freeman (right) won it for the second year in a row

Reacting to their win, Mr Sharpe said: "[I'm] a little tired, I've got a slight croaky voice. But pretty ecstatic to win again."

The event organiser Paul Fielden told BBC Radio Wiltshire lower water, particularly in the River Thames, made it so hard for paddlers that 50% withdrew as they failed to reach Teddington Lock on time.

Mr Sharpe, who is based in Richmond-upon-Thames, said the second half of the race from Reading to Westminster was "harder than usual" as there was "no water to push us down".

To train, he says he paddles 62 miles (100km) and runs 31 miles (50km) every week between January and April.

Tom Sharpe A group of people standing on the banks of the River Thames in front of the Houses of Parliament smilingTom Sharpe
Mr Sharpe and Ms Freeman with their support crew, who fed them during the race

Mr Fielden said Mr Sharpe and Ms Freeman - whose win was her second in a row - beat their closest rivals by four minutes in a "fantastic race".

"We had a 50% failure rate this year, lots of paddlers pulled out because of the conditions best described as brutal," he said.

"It's a tough race in the best of years, this year was exceptionally tough."

The event is divided into different races: the senior doubles (non-stop), the stage races which are paddled over four days, and the junior doubles which involves eight hours paddling and an overnight camp.

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