Harsh wind and cold temperatures put it’s mark on this year’s Amsterdam Waterland Canoe Marathon, denying racegoers the chance to challenge the record time set by South Africa’s Sean Rice.

A new feature of this year’s race was two separate mass-starts, with the junior men, senior women and masters men starting first, followed by a second mass-start with just the senior men.

For the latter the start proved to be a challenge, with a huge false start in the senior men’s race. Many paddlers started their race before the official signal, resulting in a 500 metre false start that had to be cut off in a boat.

Because of the new start format it was hard to track where the leading pack was, with the senior women finishing in front of the senior men. It was a mix of race classes at the finish line.

The masters' men were happy with the new format. Felipe Pereira said after the race “I’m very happy with my race,I probably reached the top 10. The start was good, just some quick ladies and top junior guys I couldn’t keep up with.”

In the end the Dane Mads Brand Pedersen took a sprint to beat Leonel Ramalho and Sean Rice right before the finish line.

In the senior women's race, Hungary's Zsofi Czellai-Voros took the most advantage of the mixed start with the masters’ men. She led the women’s race and finished with a big time difference to Lizzie Broughton and Lili Katona.

The masters’ men was won by Emeric Petot, a minute ahead of Ronny Meisner in second place, with Guy de Prins finishing third.

The junior men did well in the new format of the long distance, with Ory Zsombor finishing two minutes ahead of the masters’ men, with a time of 1.41.28. This would have given him a ninth place overall in the senior men’s race.

In the short official junior women’s race, Lea Marchand took the gold medal, just before Aine White and local hero Iris van Bommel.

All of this has been made possible by the generous contribution of our sponsors: De Coogh Funderingstechnieken, Kanocentrum Arjan Bloem and Nelo Kayaks. Another big thanks for our event suppliers Orange Rental, Gomes, Red Bull and Vaikobi Ocean Performance.

Find all the results here.

Save the date for next year’s race: 18th of april 2020