Father and son duo Ian and Jimmy Wilkinson took on the famous Liffey Descent kayak race recently and came away with silver and bronze medals.
The world-famous Liffey Descent sees kayakers and canoeists from all over the world take to the water in a gruelling 18-mile downriver race, consisting of 11 weirs, a set of rapids, a 500-metre portage where athletes must run carrying their kayaks, and the rather technical stretch of river known as ‘The Jungle’.
In kayak racing, anything over 12 miles is referred to as a marathon race. There are various types of kayaks and canoes which take part in this event — from the very fast K2 and K1 racing kayaks to the much slower open Canadian canoes, and everything in between — with competitors racing against paddlers in their own category.
This year’s Liffey Descent took place on 18 October, with water levels rather low due to Liffey dam repairs preventing the usual four-megawatt release of water, resulting in more damage than usual to some of the boats. Starting outside the famous K-Club golf resort, Annalong kayakers and father-son duo Ian and Jimmy Wilkinson both took part in the Wild Water Racing (WWR) category.
Ian has not only competed in this race several times (in K2 and WWR classes), but he was also a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in the K4 (four-man kayak) sprint in 1986. Jimmy, who is no stranger to world-class competition, has competed in two junior canoe polo internationals — a sport best described as basketball in kayaks — earning a silver medal in 2022.
This was, however, Jimmy’s first time kayak racing at international level. Despite this, he kept his cool, managing to navigate a clean run up to the infamous Sluice Weir, just after the portage. Ian’s experience proved to be an advantage, especially at the start, holding third place over Straffan Weir.
After this came the notorious ‘Jungle’, where Ian and Jimmy each moved up a spot. Navigating through the trees and overtaking many of the touring doubles (T2s) did not slow down the Annalong men. Now in second and third place respectively, Ian and Jimmy had a clean run down over several weirs to Leixlip Reservoir, where they were neck-and-neck.
During the portage, Jimmy overtook Ian, though both Mourne men kept clear heads, getting back into the fast flow and narrowly avoiding the menacing parapets just after the get-in. The gorge-like nature of Sluice Weir proved technically difficult at this low water level. Jimmy capsized in the large standing wave at the bottom, but he quickly got back into his boat and away.
Ian regained second place, although he spun out at Sluice, ending up facing upstream due to the waves and turbulent eddies. Jimmy paddled hard and managed to catch his father after his spill. Many of the K2s and K1s were portaging Sluice Weir, which has two potential drops. Most took the less-steep drop on the right side of the river, which is what Ian and Jimmy chose.
Ian shot the weir in one piece, but unfortunately, despite hitting Lucan Weir at a good parallel angle, Jimmy got spun halfway down, hitting the bottom straight on. This caused Jimmy’s footrest to break off, seriously affecting his balance and paddling ability, as these boats rely on leaning for steerage.
Jimmy knew there was nothing he could do but keep paddling as his legs began cramping due to the lack of a footrest. Thanks to his good balance, he managed to stay upright and held a clean line for the remaining five weirs to the finish at Island Bridge, 18 miles from the start.
Despite the technical challenges — exacerbated by the low water level — the Annalong men came home with two of the three medals available in the Wild Water Racing international class, with Ian taking second place and Jimmy picking up a bronze medal.
