Caffrey, Egan and Keating medal as Salmon Leap shines again on European stage

Salmon Leap Canoe Club again made its presence felt on the international stage after a number of their members, covering all age divisions, delivered hugely impressive results at the 2026 European Canoe Marathon Championships in Pitesti, Romania.

Among the highlights for the Leixlip club was the performance of Caoilin Caffrey who bagged her very first international medals when she took bronze in the Junior Women’s K1 Short Course event followed by silver in the long course contest.

Sean Smyth narrowly missed out on a podium finish when he came home fourth in the Junior Men’s K1 Short Course, before recording a 10th-place finish over the longer 22.6km course, with Sean Noud following him home in 17th position.

Emily Donnellan crossed the line ninth in the Junior Women’s K1 Long Course, while both Smyth and Jake Witek combined for an eighth-place finish in the Junior Men’s K2 event.

And in the Under 23 Men's K1 26.2km race, Paul Donnellan delivered a solid showing, as he finished up in 13th position, with clubmate, Ben Higgins just two places further back in 15th.

And there was more for Salmon Leap to celebrate in the masters class as Peter Egan linked up Belgium’s Erwin Smids to land bronze in the Men’s K2 (45-49) division after having taken fifth in K1, while Breda Keating, lining out in the 65-69 age category, landed silver in the K1 class before combining with Gitte Karlshoj from Denmark to also take the runners-up spot in K2. What’s more she also carded a fourth-place finish in the Mixed K2, which she contested in partnership with Bulgaria’s Kiril Florov.

For 15-year-old Caoilín Caffrey, the double podium finish at this year’s Europeans exceeded the expectations she, herself, harboured heading out to Romania, the Celbridge woman admitting “To be honest, I didn’t think I could medal before going over. I thought the best I could do would be more in the 5th to 8th range.

“I felt really proud when I secured the bronze in the short course, especially because I wasn’t expecting it at all, even during the race, as I’d fallen off the lead group coming into the first portage. The final was very hard, but I pushed through and the result was worth it.

“Going into the long course I knew I had the chance to fight for a medal after my result in the short course the previous day and I was delighted to claim silver.

“The race was hard at some points and easier at others. I found the portages hard, but managed to pull through on the last two and stay with the leader for a sprint finish” she said.

Her clubmate, Sean Smyth very nearly added to Ireland’s medal count as he delivered a hugely encouraging fourth-place finish in Junior Men’s K1 short course.

“It was hot out there, so it was hard for anyone from Ireland or from a colder country to keep up with that heat” he told The Kildare Nationalist.

“But it was still a good race and I had a good result. A few mistakes led me to probably miss out on the podium, but it was still really good to be in the mix” he said.

Just two years after he had won K2 gold with Declan Halton at the 2024 European Canoe Marathon Championships in Poland, Peter Egan was back on the podium, this time to collect a bronze that he secured with Belgium canoeist, Smids.

The Salmon Leap competitor was delighted with that performance, given the hot conditions and the fact that it came just in the wake of his fifth-place finish in K1 in Pitesti.

“The conditions were very hot over there, and we knew there were a few hot crews competing” said Egan.

 “There were two good Spanish crews and they took first and second.

“It was tough going in the heat. There wasn't much of a breeze on the lake that day, so it was very intense, and we just had to make sure we were properly hydrated, because we had already raced the K1 the day before, so there were some elements of fatigue from that.

“But for the first time for us to get in and paddle together, the race went very well, so we were very happy” he said.

Fellow masters competitor, Breda Keating was also pleased with her return of two silver medals in Pitesti.

No stranger to the podium at top-level competition, the Leixlip woman again joined forces with Karlshoj from Denmark - a gold-medal winning combination at last year’s World Championships in Hungary.

And the two delivered again, picking up silver just two days after Keating had secured the same colour in her singles event, where she was up against a lot of serious competition.

“I was the oldest in the K1 race” said Keating. “I'm born in 1957 whereas the others were all born in 1961, but I got away with the leaders, and a Polish woman [Elzbieta Hoffmann] got away from us.

“I was going after her, and the Russian woman [Nadezhda Mikhailova] was behind me for a good bit of the race, right on my tail. But, on the last lap, I dropped her and got the silver, and she came in behind me for the bronze.

“I was thrilled. It was my first time to take a silver in the K1 class. I've had a couple of bronze medals before” she said.

For Salmon Leap lead coach, Jon Simmons, such performances on as big a stage as the European Championships, was another indication of the growing strength of the club.

“All the athletes have made their club and country proud” he remarked. “Their dedication and hard work has been a pleasure to witness, and I couldn't be prouder of everything they have achieved as a team.

“To see Caoilin come home with two European Championship medals continues to show that we can mix it with the best on the international stage” he insisted.