GREAT Britain kayaker Emily Lewis took fourth place at the Senior World Canoe Championships in the K2 event over 200 metres.

The debutant K2 pairing of Worcester Canoe Club’s Lewis and Hannah Brown represented GB in Milan, Italy.

Having qualified through the heats, the pair produced an impressive final performance, only missing out on the podium by 0.03 of a second.

Lewis’ season has gone from strength to strength, having a few weeks earlier claimed fourth at the Under 23s World Championships in Portugal in the K1 over 200m in a new personal best time of 41.03 seconds.

The Malvern 22-year-old’s success on the international stage follows last month’s title-winning performance in the UK Under 23 Nationals in Nottingham in the K1 200m by a 2.41-second margin.

Her progress this season has led to her selection to represent GB at the pre-Olympic test event in Rio de Janeiro next month, competing in the K1 over 200m and in the K2 event over 500m.

Lewis said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to compete in Brazil next month. It’s important to maintain focus on my aim to compete at Rio 2016.

“Competing regularly at international level is invaluable experience for my dream to become reality.

“I’d also like to thank my sponsors for their continued support. ”

Meanwhile, a small Worcester team enjoyed success in Norwich at the National Marathon Kayaking Championships.

Jenny Illidge was second by only two seconds in the under 23s women’s section.

She also paddled with Jenny Swallow, from Chester, to second spot in the senior women’s contest to be under 23s champion.

Illidge has been selected to represent GB at the World Championships in Gyor, Hungary, starting today.

Chris Skellern beat his training partner James Parker by one second to claim third place in the over 64s men’s section.

However, the partnership triumphed in the K2 race to become national champions.

Although Janet Parker is over 64, she had to work hard to paddle in the over 59s age group and beat them all to claim the gold.

Ian Smith came seventh out of 40 in the over 49s men’s K1 and Keiron Killey completed the course in his first race at national under 16 levels.

Andy Nevitt and Julian Gilbert finished 10th in the over 54s K2 race and 12th in the over 44s.

Illidge finished with a bronze medal in the mixed K2 with Jonathon O’Grady from Runcorn.