Chester Canoe Club paddler Colin Cartwright made an impressive return to competitive wildwater action at the Great Britain selection races over the weekend.

Cartwright, who has represented GB at canoeing and dragon boating, travelled to the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre in Nottingham looking to earn international selection in a series of disciplines.

Last season the Boughton-based paddler took an enforced sabbatical following redundancy to set up a fitness business with his wife Helen, who he married last September.

Having decided to return to competitive racing under the watchful eye of coach and mentor Ian Tordoff, Cartwright set himself the challenge of attempting to gain a place on the GB team for single kayak (K1), single canoe (C1) and double canoe (C2).

In the sprint races on the grade three water course, Cartwright performed well in K1, C1 and C2 despite being in a borrowed boat with a new partner in former dragon boating team-mate and world squirt boating champion Alex Edwards.

Due to the limited time slots on the course and the length of the race, Cartwright only had time to enter the K1 classic race and posted a time of 10 minutes and 18 seconds.

He must now wait until the GB selection committee meets later this week to find out whether he has made the team for this summer's World Cup events in Slovenia and Austria, and the ICF Wildwater Canoeing Sprint World Championships in Vienna.

Chester Canoe Club paddler Colin Cartwright in action at the Great Britain wildwater selection races in Nottingham
Chester Canoe Club paddler Colin Cartwright in action at the Great Britain wildwater selection races in Nottingham