A Golden Thread Through Women’s Freestyle: Claire O’Hara and Ottilie Robinson-Shaw
In this article, Coach Dennis Newton looks back at two titans of women’s freestyle, Claire O’Hara and Ottilie Robinson-Shaw, who have carried the sport forward together, building a lasting mark on freestyle kayaking. For more than a decade, both have pushed the boundaries of gender parity and kept freestyle evolving; they delivered historic firsts in women’s trick execution and record-breaking rides, rewriting what was possible on the score sheet and in the imagination of the sport. With Ottilie’s recent triple-gold sweep at the ICF World Championships, it’s the perfect moment to look back at how these two paddlers pushed freestyle kayaking forward and kept the fire alive.
At the 2025 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships in Plattling, Ottilie Robinson-Shaw claimed triple gold for the second time, becoming the first athlete in World Championship history to do so twice. It was her fifth Worlds appearance, yet you’d be forgiven for thinking she’d been part of the sport’s fabric for decades. Ottilie seems as timeless as the Championships themselves, a fixture so central it’s easy to forget how recent her rise really is. And at just 23 years old, Ottilie has already cemented her place as arguably the greatest all-around women’s freestyler in history.
Ottilie’s ascent to nine ICF World Championship titles wasn’t forged in isolation, though. It rests on the foundation laid by Claire O’Hara MBE, whose breakout year at the 2011 ICF Worlds in Plattling saw her claim the first-ever women’s double-gold, a triumph that launched a seven-year reign that transformed women’s freestyle. I had the privilege of coaching Claire through those defining chapters, supporting her as she challenged what was once thought impossible, and witnessing firsthand as she inspired the next generation.
At the 2013 Worlds, in Squirt, Claire scored a world-record 1,253 points in the semi-finals, the highest ride of that round across both men and women. She went on to secure gold in the final, just seven points behind the men’s silver medallist. Clay Wright, the men’s champion, credited her ride for elevating his own performance. That was the moment parity didn’t just seem possible; it was happening.
In K1W, Claire returned to continue pushing the limits. She set a new ICF world record in the prelims with a score of 810 points, a ride that began to showcase the tricks and pacing she’d been building up to. Though two low-scoring final runs tested her resolve, she rallied with a composed 708-point performance to clinch Gold, securing her second consecutive double world title.
At the 2015 World Championships, Claire shattered her previous Squirt world record with an 1,850-point in the semi-finals, surpassing her previous best by 500 points and setting the highest score at that stage. The ride was a masterclass: she opened with a Mystery-to-Exit, then flowed into Tricky, Switch-Cartwheel in both directions, backed up with a fascinating sequence of Super Clean-Splitwheel, and Super Clean Heli-Splitwheel, just a glimpse of the full ride’s complexity.
In the men’s semi-finals, that score would have placed her second overall, just 163.33 points behind Stephen Wright’s historic world record of 2,013.33. Her semi-final round had already raised expectations across the field. And in the finals, she secured her fourth consecutive Squirt World title.
« Methodically, she worked through the ICF score sheet, refining each trick, and challenging misconceptions of what women could achieve. »
Claire was rapidly expanding what was possible. Her progression across both disciplines moved in parallel, each feeding the other. In training, she pioneered multiple historic firsts for women’s K1, including the Lunar-Loop, Tricky-loop, which, at that stage, had never been seen at Worlds. Methodically, she worked through the ICF score sheet, refining each trick, and challenging misconceptions of what women could achieve.
Then came the 2017 World Championships in San Juan, a culmination of everything Claire stood for, and one of the most electrifying finals the sport had seen. In the K1 showdown, she became the first woman to perform a Lunar Orbit and Tricky Woo in an ICF competition, delivering a 925-point ride that secured her the gold medal, just shy of the elusive 1,000-point barrier she had long dreamed of breaking. She missed two tricks, either of which could have pushed her past that milestone. I remember the energy in that moment vividly. When that buzzer went, it felt as though we’d witnessed a ride that would echo far beyond that scoreboard.
« I wasn’t going to open with a safe ride. I was going to go all or nothing with my new routine of the big tricks that I love. »
Claire said it best herself: “I wasn’t going to open with a safe ride. I was going to go all or nothing with my new routine of the big tricks that I love… That was the ride I could be super proud of. Years and years of hard work had paid off, and I had taken all my big tricks into a competition ride and nailed them in a Worlds final… At that stage, to be completely honest, the result and score didn’t matter. I had done it.”
Claire had just secured her third World Championship double-gold title in Squirt and K1, a dream conclusion to her freestyle career.
Watching from the riverbank, wide-eyed and fresh off her 2017 junior world title, was Ottilie Robinson-Shaw. I remember how she absorbed that ride, not just technically, but emotionally. That moment did much more than just inspire her; it lit the fire within. From there, she began a rise that would soon make her one of the most dominant junior freestylers in history.
In K1, she made waves as the first junior athlete, male or female, to win two ICF World Championship titles, securing them in San Juan (2017) and Sort (2019). Ottilie followed Claire’s lead and shaped her own path. Across five World Championship appearances, she now holds seven senior world titles and two junior crowns, surpassing Claire’s total. Her explosive style, cross-discipline mastery, and competitive fire have expanded the horizon of what women in freestyle can achieve. As her coach, I’ve watched how her expansive trick repertoire and inspiring work ethic have continued to raise the ceiling.
« Ottilie became the first woman in history to break the 1,000-point barrier. »
Ottilie became the first woman in history to break the 1,000-point barrier, a feat she first achieved at just 17 years old, during GB Team Selections. From that moment, her dream was clear: to bring that level of performance to the world stage.
She soon seized that opportunity, and in doing so, became a symbol of what progression really looks like. At the 2022 World Championship in Nottingham, she outscored the entire men’s field in Squirt with a single ride of 1,920 points, a new women’s world record, and 407 points ahead of the highest men’s score.
In C1W, making its historic debut as a dedicated women’s event following the ICF’s restructuring of the mixed discipline, Ottilie entered the inaugural final with clear intent: to showcase the potential of women’s canoe freestyle. She delivered a no-holding-back final ride, rapidly transitioning from trick to trick. She scored 690 points to take gold, claiming the title and setting a high benchmark, lighting the way for the discipline’s future.
She also set new standards in K1W, scoring 1,216 points, the highest women’s finals score ever recorded at a World Championships. That ride also marked a historic first for the discipline with a Lunar Loop executed flawlessly on the World’s stage for the first time. Her ride carried such amplitude, complexity, and flow that the score would have held its own in the K1M finals.
« Affirming her mastery across disciplines, Ottillie became the first athlete, male or female, to sweep senior world titles in K1, C1, and Squirt at a single championship. »
Affirming her mastery across disciplines, Ottillie became the first athlete, male or female, to sweep senior world titles in K1, C1, and Squirt at a single championship.
That benchmark rose even higher in 2024, when Ottilie returned for the European Championships in Graz. There, she became the first athlete to win gold in both K1 and C1 at the same event. Her C1 performance broke her own world record with a score of 1,283 points, just 27 points short of the men’s winning mark. It was a powerful statement of parity and progression, capping three years that redefined what women’s canoe freestyle could dare to imagine.
Then came K1. In the semi-finals, Ottilie delivered scores of 1,323 and 1,430, each setting a new world record. And finals were something else entirely. She unleashed a staggering 1,560-point performance, a ride so commanding it didn’t just smash women’s records; it placed her among the top five scorers in K1M. Just one missed trick separated her from a silver medal in the men’s category.
This competition also marked a breakthrough in Ottilie’s rides. She opened with a sequence she’d never attempted in competition: Entry 3, Lunar, Mc Nasty, Lunar-Loop. The ride culminated in a left Lunar-Loop that narrowly missed retaining the feature. Had it landed, her score may have soared toward 1,800, a powerful realisation that the dream ride, and the elusive 2,000-point threshold, reached by only a few, and never at a World Championships, was tantalisingly close.
Ottilie’s reflection on the moment speaks volumes: “I’m proud of this ride. I came in testing new strategies, trying to push my freestyle further. It’s not just about winning anymore, it’s about seeing how far I can take the sport. This ride shows that. I love to win, but knowing I’ve done something no other woman has yet, something that sets the bar, that’s a good feeling. I hope it inspires more juniors and girls to push their limits. And yeah… 2,000 points in K1 isn’t looking that far off.”
Throughout her rise, Ottilie delivered multiple historic firsts in women’s trick execution, bringing tricks into competition that previously lived only in training reels. Her successful integration of advanced tricks across K1, C1, and Squirt has marked a new chapter in women’s freestyle.
And then, at the 2025 World Championships in Plattling, Ottilie did what only she could: another triple-gold sweep and a new Squirt world record.
In Squirt prelims, she opened with staggering scores of 2,380 and 2,120. In the semi-finals, she raised the standard again, delivering 2,426.67 and 2,473.33. And in the final, she scored 2,536.67, before unleashing a ride that stunned the sport: opening with a flawless sequence of Clean-Heli-Tricky, Woo-Tricky, Super Clean-Heli-Split in both directions, before vanishing into a heart-pounding mystery. Then came the score: 2,790 points, a new all-time women’s world record. It crowned a campaign in which she broke her own 2022 world record six times, all within a single championship.
Ottilie’s ride style, and competitive presence have become reference points not only for her peers but for the men’s field as well, charting new possibilities for the sport’s evolution. From Claire’s fearless rise in Plattling 2011 to Ottilie’s triple sweep on the same wave in 2025, a golden thread runs through them.
« Ottilie’s ride style, and competitive presence have become reference points not only for her peers but for the men’s field as well, charting new possibilities for the sport’s evolution. »
Alongside them stood women who brought brilliance, inner fire, and transformative breakthroughs: Emily Jackson (USA), Hitomi Takaku (JPN), Marlene Devillez (FRA), Zofia Tula (POL), and many more. Every final, every heat, every shared wave added a new chapter to the story. Their scores sharpened the standard. Their presence raised the stakes. Their performances pushed Claire and Ottilie to reach higher, train harder, and evolve further.
This isn’t a legacy built on titles alone. It’s built on the collective fire of women who dared, dreamed, and delivered. Today, Ottilie and Claire stand shoulder to shoulder in legacy. Not just in freestyle, but across all paddlesport, their achievements have helped shift expectations and expand belief. What they represent goes far beyond medals. It’s about how those medals were won, through courage, adaptability, and resilience.
I’ve had the privilege of witnessing this evolution up close. Each generation has risen with the momentum of the last, building, innovating, and keeping the fire alive.
Progress hasn’t always been linear. But in those electric moments, their determination and creativity have shone brilliantly. In every ride, the sport hasn’t just evolved, it’s revealed what happens when brilliance becomes shared.
Words: Dennis Newton
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