Sponsored by Thames 200 Ultra

With just a few weeks before the first ever Thames 200 Ultra, entries are getting exciting. Having the option to race as a relay team has attracted some serious talent. Both “retired” and… whatever is the opposite of retired. Won-a-European-Championship-medal-a-few-days-ago level not retired. So far, it’s looking like three crews will be fighting it out for the relay crown: Royal Retirees, Richmond, and Russells.

The Royal “Retirees“

200 kilometres straight through can sound intimidating even for elite paddlers. That was the case for Ed Rutherford, who’s signed up to race the Thames 200 Ultra as a relay with the “Royal Retirees”. Ed has competed at twelve ICF world events across marathon and sprint kayak, and won a world championship bronze medal in the 5km in 2013. With a racing CV like that, it’s hard to imagine that paddling the length of the Thames might be outside his comfort zone. But for Ed, the zone extends to just 30 km, the standard maximum for international canoe marathon racing. For the T200, having the team relay option made it an easy choice: “I’m not capable of doing the 200k by myself, both in terms of time commitment and physical ability, so the fact that we can break it down and make it a team event is a big appeal. We can approach it as a team and have fun with it.”

Ed Rutherford is joined by more ex-Team GB paddlers and similarly speedy guys from Royal Canoe Club (mostly): Matt Bowley, Graham O’Regan, Lee Maddocks, Ben Parfitt, and Jon O’Grady. These guys have a plethora of international races under their belts, including numerous top ten world championship finishes. But like Ed, the longest most of them have ever raced is around 30 km. They consider themselves retired since they’re no longer official “performance athletes” under the GB banner, but they’re far from slow.

The group keeps pretty fit (how fit, exactly, is a minor point of contention between them) through Saturday morning training at the club, Hasler races, and the occasional major event. With solid results across Divisions 2-4 at the Haslers, they have clearly still got the goods to win long races. And though most of them are marathoners, both Jon O’Grady and Lee Maddocks have posted strong finishes in the Devizes to Westminster race. This past spring, Jon raced K2 with Billy Butler. Making the jump from marathon to ultra wasn’t easy: “I went to some dark places”, he acknowledged at the end of the race. But with an impressive second place finish in his first straight-through DW, Jon is well poised to become a top ultra paddling racer. “Royal Retiree” Lee Maddocks completed the DW in 2022 where he earned the Services trophy with William Bosworth.

This crew’s group chat is already popping off with debate about tactics – whether they’ll do K1s, K2s, or even K4 (great for a quick start, bad for portaging). Front-loading the race plan with the fastest paddler or crew boat could be a big advantage – leave the other teams in the dust, and crush their spirit before they’ve hardly started. But equally, you want someone really solid through the middle of the night who can keep a consistent pace and won’t accidentally paddle over a weir in the dark.

The team was joking (tune into Paddle Daily’s live race coverage at 11pm on 24 August to find out if it was a joke or not) about putting Lee Maddocks (“the marine”) in the midnight leg: in Bowley’s words, “he’s tough as nails”. If Maddocks wasn’t already tough from his military background, having done DW certainly puts him into that camp.

Team Richmond

The Royal(ish) crew will have some tough competition. From Richmond Canoe Club, a smaller team of three could be at a disadvantage by having fewer team members, but each of them brings exceptional long distance talent. Andrew Birkett, Joe Petersen, and Brett Irvine will make a formidable team.

Andrew attempted DW this year with Tom Simmons. They jumped in the boat together just a few weeks before the race after Tom’s original partner, Mike Lambert, had to pull out due to shoulder injury. Birkett and Simmons had instant chemistry: they came second at Waterside C and won Waterside D. The last-minute crew quickly became favourites to win DW. On race day, they put down the fastest splits for 35 miles all the way to Newbury, but unfortunately started losing steam and eventually had to retire when Tom ran into stomach issues. Off the Thames, Andrew is a highly accomplished distance racer with ten Dusi finishes and numerous top tier surfski placings. Not being able to finish DW this year has probably put some extra fire in Birkett’s belly ahead of the Thames 200 Ultra.

Brett Irvine is another elite surfski paddler, and you may have seen Joe Petersen’s face flying by too fast to follow during Paddle Daily’s coverage of the Waterside series earlier this year – in Wateside C where Andrew Birkett came second, Joe came first. This team brings a wealth of both experience and fitness, and could certainly make a play for the win.

The Russell Family Singers Paddlers

The Russell Family have entered from Chelmsford Canoe Club, but don’t let the fact that they’re all family trick you into thinking this team isn’t a threat. They’re probably one of the most decorated paddling families in the country. Siblings Emma and Jimbo have been tearing things up on the international stage already this summer.

In May, Emma Russell finished 3rd in the Women’s K2 Senior 500m Final B at the Szeged World Cup with Olympian partner Deborah Kerr. Her older brother Jimbo represented Team GB in Szeged as well, and finished 5th in the Men’s K1 Senior 1000m at the Poznan World Cup. Just last week, Russell won not one but TWO bronze medals at the European Marathon Championships. These were the first men’s senior marathon medals in over a decade: the last one went to Ben Brown for winning the long course world championship in Banyoles, Spain in 2010. The women’s team have won a number of marathon medals in the interim in kayak and canoe, but James’ results are huge for the men’s side. Russell has been sitting near the top for a few seasons now and it certainly looks like 2024 is his year.

Although most of Jimbo’s international exploits fall in the same 30 km or less category as most of the Royal Retirees, he’s proved on home turf that he can win beyond the 30 km mark. Earlier this spring, Jim set a new Waterside C K1 record, trading wash over 37 km with Joe Petersen and Tim Gannicott-Porter in K2.

Emma & Jimbo will be joined by their father, Phil, who is more than ready for the long distance since he’s been training for an ultra in Norwich that was recently cancelled.

More top contenders in the mix?

The Royals, Richmonds, and Russells are just a few of the leading contenders to win the relay race. With the relay format making it easily accessible to elite paddlers, even when they’re on a strict competition schedule, the Thames 200 Ultra will undoubtedly draw more high end racers. And the tactics are all still up for debate – if these three teams decide to put their best foot forward off the start, particularly in team boats, it could turn the start of the ultra into an all-out sprint…

In the straight-through race, a number of strong paddlers have entered in kayak, canoe, and SUP. Many of them are competitors looking ahead to DW 2025 who want a warm-up or trial ultra race beforehand. Some missed out on DW 2024 due to personal circumstances or not meeting the criteria the race added due to the dangers of a fast-flowing river (not likely to be a problem in August). And others are just wanting a new challenge.

Sign up, and tune in

Thinking about signing up? There’s still time! Registrations close on 18 August, just enough time to put your name in the hat for a 200 km adventure, or pull together your paddling mates for the team relay. Want to do the relay, but your mates aren’t convinced? Join the Thames 200 Ultra Facebook Group to find a friend. The race is even offering free bag drop services to make it easy to race without a support crew.

Learn more about the Thames 200 Ultra at thames200ultra.com, and follow and subscribe to Paddle Daily to make sure you don’t miss any of the action: check out our website, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Plus, we’ll be LIVE from the race on 24-25 August! Select “notify me” to watch live from home or on the go.