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2021 CANOE WALES AWARDS

The Canoe Wales Awards recognise the tremendous dedication and commitment of our members and those who support them.

This year's award categories are:

Paddler of the Year
Coach of the Year
Alan Baker Volunteer of the Year
Young Volunteer of the Year
Environmental Champion - NEW
Club of the Year

Thank you so much for sending in your nominations - you can now find out who our finalists are below.

Paddler of the Year

Ben Higson - Finalist

"Ben is a Freestyle paddler who paddles regularly at Cardiff International White-Water Centre where he started his paddling career ... Despite the challenges of lockdown, Ben came 2nd Junior K1 man at British Championships (1st weekend Sept) with his highest score of his career to date. He then came 6th Junior K1 at Freestyle European Championships in early October missing the top 5 to make the final by 7 points. Then on 20/21 Oct he came through GB selection as 1st Junior K1 paddler. This means Ben will be representing GB at the World Championships next year in Nottingham - his 2nd world championships... We’d like to nominate Ben as paddler of the Year for his competitive paddling achievements representing GB in K1 freestyle, his willingness to pass on his skills and encourage other paddlers, especially youngsters, for his friendly personality, and for his joyful love for paddling."

John Willacy - Finalist

"2021 has been another very successful year for John in his chosen discipline of ‘Performance Sea Kayaking’, setting four sea kayak speed records and completing a further four circumnavigations... In 2021, during the COVID 19 lockdown he maintained fitness off the water in preparation to start the season post-lockdown with a circumnavigation of the Isle of Anglesey... In April, he set a new record for the circumnavigation of Walney Island in Cumbria, in less than three hours... In June he set a new UK speed record for the length of Loch Ness, 2:58 for the 33 km... A week later, he attempted the circumnavigation of the Isle of Skye, his main goal for 2021. For most kayakers, this is a 5 -7 day expedition. He completed the 215 km in 54 hours, breaking the previous record by 9 hours... John has been keen to use his profile in the sport to inspire and motivate others to seek their own sea kayak challenges."

Gwion Williams - Finalist

"Gwion has had an amazing slalom season competing in all the UK division 1 races and gaining promotion to the premier division, this is an amazing achievement for any paddler but at only 14 years old in a short slalom season is an outstanding effort. Gwion has also raced in 4 premier ranking races and finished the season ranked 31 in the UK. He is also the only J14 paddler in the UK to make it to the premier division. Gwion also won the J14,J15,16 J17 and J18 Welsh championships. Gwion has been selected to race in the GB junior selection races March 2022 and also the Canoe Wales performance team. As well as this Gwion has also been a young volunteer coach at the club and is always helping bring on the next group of paddlers."

Photo © Kim Jones

Coach of the Year

Gareth Bryant - Finalist

"Gareth gives 100% to the club. He makes sure all slalom team members are looked after. He coaches the team daily and provides a variety of different training activities to ensure all athletes get a rounded and complete training programme focusing on technical training and fitness. He has a dedicated team of coaches who provide the young athletes with all the skills needed to progress to the best of their ability. Gareth constantly offers encouragement and support to all team members and always does so with a smile :) ... He makes the environment feel like a family, everyone is treated equally but you know he’s always got your back... He is the heart of Llandysul Paddlers. ""

Matthew Robinson - Finalist

"Matt is an ex Olympic K4 paddler and he is an amazing coach at Cardiff Bay Kayakers. His training sessions are so professional [and] well planned & pitched at right level for everyone to get the maximum out of them. I have learnt so much & my paddling has come on so much in the last 6 months and it is all down to Matt. He also will answer any questions or queries that I have with his expertise. He has given advice for off the water too. I am new to the sport & absolutely love it & this is all down to Matt."

Alan Baker Volunteer of the Year

Mark Abbott - Finalist

"Mark is the backbone to Canoe slalom events in Wales, the face behind the technical running of a race. From running all the wires, setting up the PC’s, creating start lists beforehand and the constant running around on race days if any technical issues arise. Without Mark these races would not run, or we would have to pay for a British Canoeing timing team... Mark has done this tirelessly and the 2021 racing season has been a particularly difficult season with extra restrictions and limited people able to help him. Canoe slalom races in wales could not run without him."

Young Volunteer of the Year

Sioned Bryant - Finalist

"Sioned started the Young Guns programme at Llandysul Paddlers as soon as she could to get 6-14 year olds as active as possible after the first government lockdown... Sioned has kept the young guns sessions running every Sunday and some of the paddlers have moved onto the slalom team or recreational paddling... Sioneds enthusiasm has been amazing and she has even managed to train up some of the older members of the group to become volunteer coaches at the club and on the young guns sessions."

Luke Maguire - Finalist

"Luke is always the first to the club sessions, dragging out boats, setting up the session, helping others with spray decks, running out to make sure everyone had a paddle, then watching to see where he can be most helpful. He ends every session by making sure everything is put away, going around helping as needed. In between he is there to coach, develop, demonstrate or participate as he feels appropriate... Supported by the Canoe Wales young volunteer programme he has gained his paddlesports instructor qualification, and is now looking for his next step up the coaching ladder. In the meantime he has taken the opportunity to volunteer at CIWW where he helps out as much as he can."

Oliver Snowden - Finalist

"Oli's experiences have allowed him to develop into a very understanding and supportive trainee coach and he now gives many hours of his time back to the club and its paddlers in this capacity... He has the ability to coach paddlers from grassroots through to division two and is able to structure the seasons so as to be fun and progressive. He has such a good understanding of the paddlers' needs and is able to encourage them in a very supportive and understanding way as he totally understands the feelings of such young paddlers due to his own experiences. Away from the water Oli regularly attends club committee meetings and is keen to help and support the club on race weekends with both the organising of the event and the running of the event."

Environmental Champion

Angela Jones - Finalist

"Angela Jones - the "Wild Woman of the Wye" - is constantly working to raise awareness of the "demise of the River Wye" and pushing for action to be taken to clean it up. From her appearances on TV and interviews with local media, to educating people about how to respect and appreciate the beauty of the Wye, to organising a rally swimming over half a mile pulling a coffin with "Death of the Wye" written on it with paddleboarders dressed as grim reapers, Angela has been relentless in bringing attention to the plight of the river Wye and calling for action to be taken to address the pollution from modern farming methods, sewage and plastics, and decline of habitat for wildlife."

Club of the Year

Cardiff Canoe Club - Finalist

"During the last 12 months, despite the challenging environment, our club has grown to over 140 members, the largest we can remember it being for many years! ... We’ve got some great plans for the remains of 2021 and into 2022 including regular river trips on the 1st and 3rd weekend of each month to aid progression from an introduction to moving water, through to developing WW skills and knowledge of a wide selection of rivers within our region... Our club has always embraced and encouraged paddlers with a wide range of ages and abilities from differing communities. We now have an age range from 4 – 79 yrs, continue to have a good number of family groups and we have increased our number of female members. We have had 70 new members join our club this year!"

Dragon Paddlers - Finalist

"Dragon Paddlers is a South Wales based kayaking club with its members at the very heart of everything we do... The coaching at Dragon Paddlers is based on a mentor system, where we run sessions where members train other members all under the supervision of the senior coaches. This allows us to develop the coaches within the club. COVID has been difficult, but we have managed to develop two of our younger coaches through the support of the Canoe Wales young volunteer programme... We have been paddling for over forty years and look forward to paddling together with as many friends as possible for the next forty years."

Llandysul Paddlers - Finalist

"Seeing the commitment and hard work every member of staff and volunteer and parents and paddler over the time I have been a member has shown me it’s more than a canoe club - it’s a family that genuinely cares about the community and the success of each other...

Llandysul started an initiative called Young Guns which has come into its own in the 2020-2021 period. Fun sessions for the very young with opportunities to try the different disciplines of canoe slalom has seen nearly 20 promotions to Division 3...

Great effort has been given to hold sessions in the language of Welsh. Llandysul Paddlers is now a fully bilingual club, it is great to hear both languages and youngsters being able to learn and enjoy paddle sports in the language that is natural to them."

Got a photo of one of our finalists? Please email it to jen.rigby@canoewales.com so we can include it above. And make sure you follow the Canoe Wales Facebook Page for further updates.