Caoilin Caffrey in action at the Canoe Marathon World Championships in Argentina
Caoilin Caffrey earns fifth place at World Championships
CAOILIN Caffrey has recently just returned from competing at the Canoe Marathon World Championships in Gualaguachu, Argentina this past weekend.
She achieved a monumental fifth place finish in the u18 category.
Training under the watchful eye of Jon Simmons at Salmon Leap Canoe Club recently turned 15 years old Caoilin, who is of Tallaght extraction by way of Grandparents in Springfield, found the initial start to the championship tough after being knocked out of her boat by a fellow competitor during the short course, 3.6km long with two portages.
Composing herself, Caffrey would have the chance to earn redemption later that day as she would take on the 19km long course with four portages sprinkled throughout,a portage being where the competitor must carry the boat over land or around an obstacle towards the next body of water
It was certainly a tough task for any athlete to compete in two finals across one day but Caffrey took it in her stride and started off the second event strong, establishing herself in the lead group.
After the third lap there was a split within the group and fighting hard, Caffrey finished strongly in a three way sprint finish to nudge herself ahead of South African and Spanish opposition to achieve a fifth place finish at the World U18 championships.
A remarkable achievement for someone in their first year eligible to compete in International competitions.
Caffrey would continue to compete over the following day, racing up two age categories alongside u23 Lucy Cullen in the Senior K2 event.
They raced across a tough 26km with six portages sprinkled throughout, managing to just finish ahead of a British crew and secure a 12th place spot.
This is a fantastic end to what has been a very successful debut season for Caffrey. She also managed to finish second in the Long Course and third in the short course in the European Championships in Romania earlier this year.
She now can enjoy some time off training before getting back to the grind over the winter and preparing to go all over again next year.
