The Ta’ Xbiex Marina recently played host to the Medcomms Kayak Challenge- a number of sprint kayak races, which took place over a 100m distance and were aimed at children who train at the Malta Canoe Racing Club.

For most, it was their kayak race debut and although they train together, their competitiveness certainly shone through.

The U-10’s where there first to set off and after a few detours, the boys eventually made it across the finish line with Andrew Gauci Borda placing first with 1min 45sec and Jake Edward Attard taking second place with 3min 10sec.

The U-15’s was a faster race with Samuel Borg and Daniel Camilleri fighting it out for first place.  Samuel eventually got the lead as he finished in 34seconds with Daniel coming in just a few seconds behind with a time of 39 seconds.

The final individual race was for the U-12s which saw brothers Benjamin and Nicholas Farrugia take the lead across the start line.  Competitors Kyle Magri Gouder and Kyle Zarb were not ready to let the twins have all the fun as they caught up with the brothers.

Benjamin maintained the lead throughout finishing first with the best time of the day of 32seconds. Kyle Magri Gouder placed second with 42 seconds whilst 3rd place was highly contested as Kyle Zarb and Mark Camilleri both placed 3rd with 44seconds.

The final event for the day was the teams relay sprints with one member from each team starting at Manoel Island Bridge sprinting 100m towards their team mates who, at the clash of their paddles, had to sprint back to the start line.

This was a fast paced relay with well balanced teams consisting of members of the various age groups. Benjamin and Nicholas seemed to be on a winning streak as they placed first in 1min2seconds.

Kyle and Daniel placed second in 1min and 6 seconds whilst bronze went to Samuel and Jake who crossed the finish line in 1min 32seconds.

The children participating are members who train weekly at the MCRC and also attend Saturday sessions through SkolaSport run by KMS. They will be given the opportunity to improve their times and settle their dues during the next children’s races which are being organised by the Malta Canoe Federation on 10 April as part of the Manoel Island Races.