Highland pair enjoy success in slalom

Pitlochry paddlers Duncan and Mairi Edwards have enjoyed significant success in the Canoe Slalom 2018 national races.

Progress has been made after the pair spent three weeks training with other Scottish team-mates in Europe during the summer.

Duncan and Mairi gained experience from camps in Prague and Augsburg while racing at the Danube Cups in Bratislava and Vienna.

Duncan just missed the final in Bratislava by 0.01 seconds and Mairi secured a place in her first international semi-final in Vienna.

Mairi, a junior paddler, has continued to gain experience on the courses around Britain, finishing 22nd in the British Open semi-final on the Olympic course at Lee Valley, London.

In his first year as an Under-23 paddler, Duncan has continued a good season of racing with a second at the British Open.

He qualified third from his first run where 40 of the 106 paddlers go through to the semis.

The remaining 66 had a second chance to finish in the top 20 to make it to the semis.

The second day saw the 60 K1 men battle it out for the 10 places in the final later that day.

Another clean run and Duncan finished third in the semis.

He put down his final clean run to finish two seconds behind a senior paddler, which earned Duncan the Under-23 British Open title.

Duncan and Mairi, who have been racing in their new Galasport Tic Tacs funded by a grant from the Enchanted Forest Community Trust, will bring the curtain down on the 2018 season at the Scottish Championships at Grandtully later this month.