Two and a half seconds. That’s all that stood between Garth Spencer and a world title at the 2026 Canoe Marathon Masters World Championships in Argentina this week, where the Kiwi paddler came away with a pair of silver medals and a story worth telling from the podium.
Spencer’s men’s 50–54 K1 race drew a 41-strong field onto a river running high and fast, conditions that turned a tight contest into a thriller. He led for most of the race before old rival Tomas Jezek swept past in the closing seconds to steal the win.
“The swollen river made for some exciting age-group racing and I managed to hang on to the lead before being ‘burgled’ in the final seconds by my old rival Tomas Jezek,” Spencer said. Jezek crossed in 1:27:38.26, with Spencer just 2.29 seconds adrift in 1:27:40.55. It wasn’t the first time the Czech paddler has got the better of him either; Jezek also beat Spencer to the line in Croatia last year.
The real story of the race sat just behind him. South Africa’s Graeme Solomon took third in 1:28:00.52, an old school friend of Spencer’s who had battled a serious health scare back in 2024. Sharing the podium with him meant more to Spencer than the result itself.
“Was a pretty special feeling to stand on the podium with Graeme who has had a serious health scare in 2024,” Spencer said. “He is an absolute legend from back home and this was a highlight for me. It’s the reconnection with old friends that make these so special.”
Spencer and Solomon then teamed up in the men’s 50–54 K2, finishing second in 1:22:47.14, just 9.96 seconds behind winners Vadim Lawrence and Tomáš Ježek, the same Czech paddler who had denied Spencer gold in the K1.
Liam Lace made his own mark on the regatta, returning to canoe marathon racing after three years out of the discipline. He finished 15th in the Senior Men’s long course world championship race and 14th in his heat in the short course event. Illness denied both Lace and Spencer the chance to race together in the Senior Men’s K2 as planned.
The pair head home just in time for the 2026 New Zealand Canoe Marathon National Championships in Auckland. Spencer is keen to see more Kiwi paddlers test themselves on the world stage, and reckons the step up to international marathon racing is less daunting than paddlers might expect, pointing to familiar domestic tests like the King and Queen of the Harbour or the Waimak Classic as proof that New Zealanders already have the engine for it.
