Scots Dickson and Leaver win three kayak cross medals on final day of World Cup
9 June 2025

Jonny Dickson and Lois Leaver secured three medals between them on the final day of the La Seu Canoe Slalom World Cup.

Dickson set the tone with gold in the men's time trial before Leaver won bronze in the women's kayak cross final, her first senior World Cup medal.


Her fellow Scot, Dickson, completed the set on the day with silver in the men's kayak cross final to see Great Britain leave Spain with four medals in total.


The day began with Dickson producing an impressive run to top the time trial in a time of 47.37.


“Winning the time trial definitely gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “The only other time I have won the time trial at senior level, I went on to win the head-to-head competition.


“I think definitely for me there is something in that, and getting out fast off the start is good for me, so I can try and avoid confrontation.”

Nikita Setchell was the only Brit not to advance to the heats with a fault on her time trial run.


All the Brits who qualified for the heats made it through to the quarter-finals.


Sam Leaver came out on the wrong side of a battle with Martin Rudorfer to finish third in his quarter-final.


Dickson and Ben Haylett raced against each other in the last 16, with the former advancing as he finished second behind David Llorente, with Haylett missing out in third.


In the women's kayak cross, Kimberley Woods just missed out on a place in the semi-finals after a messy quarter-final, while Leaver made it safely through in first.


Leaver then produced a strong semi-final performance to advance to the final, where she picked up bronze after review.


The 23-year-old had initially finished just outside the medals in the showpiece before Ajda Novak was ranked as last.


She said: “The final was very dramatic, it feels like a bit of a blur now. Going into the final, I had someone come in on top of me, taking contact first up, I thought was a little bit tricky, fighting from the get-go.


“Then I was just trying to stay calm further down, it all happened very fast though and at the end with Adja Novak overtaking me, I was a little disappointed, but to come away with a medal I was definitely excited.


“It is the first senior medal that I have had, and it feels like I’ve made really big progress since last year, especially at senior level.”


In the men's semi-finals, Dickson was able to find clean water to sail through to the final, moving from third to first in the closing stages.


It was a similar late burst that saw him rise from bronze to silver in the final as he breezed past Jan Rohrer of Switzerland for his second medal of the day.


“Two medals in one day, I am really happy with the day's work,” he said. “Obviously it was a great start by winning the time trial, which I think helps you get through the rounds.


“In the final, I knew I was very much still in contention because in the semis I had gone from being behind to then winning on the last up, and I just paddled what was in front of me.


“I made the right call and it got me from bronze to silver, but it could have easily got me to gold if those guys had got tangled up, but that is just the way it goes.”

SHARE YOUR STORY

If you have a story that would be of interest to the Paddle Scotland team please get in touch with us...

CONTACT US

Share Post

RECENT NEWS

A group of women are paddling kayaks in a race sponsored by infinity
17 July 2025
This past weekend saw a spectacular coming-together of the UK’s paddleboarding community as the Paddle UK Regatta joined forces with the GBSUP British Sprint Championships for a landmark event at Nottingham’s world-class venue. 
Three kayaks are sitting on the beach near the water.
14 July 2025
New course dates are now available for the BCAB Core Coach Training taking place online over the autumn and winter months.
A man is paddling a kayak through a river.
14 July 2025
Sam Leaver was over-the-moon to be crowned the inaugural U23 men’s kayak cross time trial world champion on the penultimate day of competition in Foix. Leaver put together a storming run of 50.62 seconds on a day that also saw Arina Kontchakov clinch silver in the women’s junior time trial. Leaver was the last to go on the water, with the single run determining the individual medallists in the time trial, as well as confirming qualification for the head-to-head kayak cross event, which takes place on the final day of competition. And in the first year that the time trial has been a separate medal event, Lever laid down an incredible run to take the title. Matyas Novak and Jakub Krejci of Czechia took silver and bronze respectively. “It’s the first year the time trial has been in and I won it so I’m pretty happy,” Leaver said. “I assumed the Czechs would be fast as they are some of the same people that competed in Pau in the senior races, so I just knew I had to send it. “It was going to be an absolute sprint so I’m really happy it worked out.” Lever has now added U23 time trial world gold to the silver he won at the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Pau in June. And with the head-to-head racing still to come, he noted his pride in a speedy final stage of the race to set him up perfectly for tomorrow. “I feel like the bottom section was pretty rapid, I think I won it on the second up,” he added. “The exit and sprint to the finish was perfect for me. “It’s set me up perfectly for the head-to-head, I’m really happy with that result.” 
VIEW MORE