World silver for Mansfield Paralympics star Charlotte

Mansfield Paralympics star Charlotte Henshaw took another big step towards her dream of a place at the Toyko 2020 Paralympics with a World Cup silver medal in her new sport of Paracanoe at the weekend.
Charlotte HenshawCharlotte Henshaw
Charlotte Henshaw

Henshaw, 31, is aiming to reach her fourth Paralympics after great success as a swimmer, winning silver in the London 2012 Games.

At the weekend she came second to team mate Emma Wiggs for a GB one-two in the final of the Paracanoe Sprint World Cup 1 event in Szeged, Hungary.

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Both women achieved new personal best times in that race, Wiggs winning in 48.42 seconds with Henshaw on 49.12 secs.

Henshaw said on Instagram: “What a morning – World Cup silver in a big new PB.

“Mad morning and a big test of your focus when your paddle goes missing from the boat bay, you have to find a spare literally two minutes before warm-up, get on late for said warm-up and then battle a ridiculous wind to stay in your start bucket.

“So chuffed to deliver a good race plan after that.

“GB came away with an epic gold for Emma Wiggs and a silver for little old me – both of us racing under the old world leading time, too. Boom!

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“So proud of this team and proud to line up in the same vest and race next to Em – the best in the world. Exciting times to come.”

For Wiggs it was her second gold of the event, after beating team-mate Jeanette Chippington to win the VL2 event on Friday, GB finishing the competition with six medals.

“I’m super proud of the way we both dealt with a big wind and waves,” said Wiggs.

“I hope and think we can push each other all the way onto that plane to Tokyo.”

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Henshaw joined the British Canoeing Podium Potential Programme in the summer of 2017.

She finished second KL2 in the women’s 200m European championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 2017, before making the finals of the World Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic.

“A fourth Paralympic Games would be beyond what I had ever imagined, but I would love to be there in Tokyo - on the water instead of in it this time,” added Charlotte.

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