Egan-Simmons finishes sixth in K1 5000m European final

Lucan kayaker Jenny Egan-Simmons registered a commendable sixth-place finish in the delayed K1 5,000 metres canoe sprint final at the European Championships in Munich earlier today.

Originally due to take place late yesterday afternoon, heavy rain and thunder ultimately saw it being postponed until Sunday – the final day of an eventual Championships in the German city.

This is a category in which Egan-Simmons has excelled in the recent past, beginning with a bronze place finish at the 2018 World Championships in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal.

Fast forward three years to the same competition in Copenhagen and Egan-Simmons came home as a K1 5,000 metres silver medallist.

She enhanced her already-impressive World Championship form in Dartmouth, Canada earlier this month, finishing third behind Hungary’s Emese Kőhalmi and Jule Hake of Germany.

Kőhalmi was to emerge with a gold medal around her neck at the end of this European final but – try as she might – Egan-Simmons couldn’t force herself into the early leading group.

Nonetheless, she fought gallantly to break into the top-five and did hold off the claims of Sweden’s Rebecka Georgsdotter to come home in a time of 23:32.833.

This left her just under a minute adrift of Kőhalmi (22:54.862), who was swiftly followed by Susanna Cicali of Italy (22:55.712) and Spain’s Eva Barrios (22:55.775).

A member of the Salmon Leap Canoe Club in Leixlip, Egan-Simmons also competed in the K1 500 metres category at the Canoe Sprint European Championships.

She reached the semi-final stage of the 500m with a solid heat performance on Thursday, before eventually missing out on a decider spot with a ninth-place finish in the penultimate round.