Olympic and World Champion Tim Brabants is officially Great Britain’s most successful sprint kayak racer.
In Beijing 2008 Brabants stormed to kayaking gold in the men's 1000 metre K1 (single kayak) sprint, returning to the medal podium for the first time in eight years. Brabants took the lead halfway and powered ahead to win in 3 minutes, 26.323 seconds.
At the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000, Tim became the first ever Briton to win an Olympic medal in kayak racing, coming home with a bronze in the K1 1000m event. He continued to improve in sprint racing and went on to become European Champion in 2002, 2006 and 2007. In the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 Tim broke the World Record in the K1 1000m heat but finished a disappointing 5th in the final. In 2006 Tim took a silver in the K1 1000m event, Britain's first World Championship medal in sprint racing in 20 years. In 2007, Tim went one better and won the World Championships in the K1 1000m and followed this up the following day with a silver in the K1 500m. These results qualified Britain's only place in kayak racing for the Beijing Olympics 2008.
Tim has been competing as part of the British senior team since 1995, when he competed in his first senior World Championships. Tim has since achieved Olympic, World Cup, European and World Championship victories in the Olympic disciplines of K1 and K2 sprint racing. Tim also competes in the non-Olympic sport of marathon kayaking.
On top of Tim’s sporting career, he qualified as a medical doctor in 2002, working part time for a few years before taking a career break since February 2006 to focus on paddling.
Sprint kayaking is an Olympic sport held on flat water over either 500 or 1000 metres. Competitors race in a single, double or four man kayak over the distance. Competitions are held on a course with 9 lanes, heats, semi-finals and finals. First across the finish line wins. Boats are high tech made from carbon fibre and built for straight line speed. They have a small rudder at the rear to aid turning when necessary and for helping to keep the kayak in a straight line when racing.
To find out more about sprint or marathon kayak racing and to find your nearest canoe club see www.bcu.org.uk. To keep up to date with Tim’s latest results and news, see www.timbrabants.com
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