Three years ago Spain's Luis Amado and Miguel Lloris fell short by just one place in their bid to win the Liffey Descent. For the 2017 version there would no mistakes. Their K2 (racing kayak) beat British, South African and Irish opposition in a well-contested race in good conditions.
“It was a very hard race, very competitive,” Llorens said. They led for most of the race, were caught at the lake in Leixlip but regained their advantage after the portage at Leixlip dam. “After that we went faster,” he added.
Keith Moule and Nicky Cressler of Britain took second place, while Sean Rice from South Africa and Tom Sharpe of Britain were third.
Jenny Egan and Peter Egan won the mixed K2. They had a good run and recorded a creditable time of 1 hour 55 minutes - but it would have been better had they not got stuck in the bank after the lake. "We nearly broke the boat," explained Peter.
Tom Brennan retained his title in the men's K1. "That's three in-a-row," the Celbridge man said. He said he had concentrated on being fast in the second half, while others had put their energy into the first. Ronan Foley was the best by far in the junior K1.
