Paddleability was first introduced into sprint races at regattas in the 1990's with a small team of paddlers being taken to a number of international club events. In 1998, the BCU hosted the first international Paddleability Sprint event and Conference at Nottingham. Shortly after this event, the European Canoe Association announced that Paddleability events would be held at the European Championships with the first European Paddleability Championships being held in 2001 in Italy.
The rules within marathon have been devloped to enable paddlers with a disability to receive help or assistant at portages (a helper could carry the competitors boat and equipment).
Paddleability National Sprint Championships - September 8th 2008
Results are now available for the Paddleability National Sprint Championships held on Saturday 6th September 2008. A successful weekend was had by all seeing previous champions regaining their titles as well as close competitions to crown new champions.
James Oldham's recent domination of the men's A competition was brought to an end this year by a triumphant Brendon Richardson as each scored 27 points to tie for the top slot. Matthew Baines retained his title as junior men's A champion having gained three gold medals. Matt Hewitt shone in the men's B competition after gaining a personal best in the 200 metres securing the overall trophy for him. In the men's C competition, Thomas Jackson was crowned as the champion following his two silver medals in the 200m and 500m as well as gaining a personal best in the 200m.
In the junior men's B competition, a closely fought battle was had between Cameron Bentley, Karl Hassell and Kieran Owen. All three improved their personal bests in the 200m by 8 seconds, but it was Cameron's gold and silver which helped him to claim the overall title. Karl went on to win the trophy for the most improved paddler for the year while Kieran was honoured with the Endeavour Trophy.
The female competition brought equal excitement with Maggie Taylor claiming the title for 2008 from a close battle with last years winner Lucy Gardner. Katie Smith won the B trophy having paddled to a new personal best in the 200m. In the junior competition, Hannah Bagshaw edged out Stella Jelly for the title after gaining a new personal best in the 200m.
The full results are available here.
Special Olympics' National Kayaking Competition - September 8th 2008
Saturday 6th September 2008 saw 25 learning disabled athletes compete in the Special Olympics' National Kayaking Competition held in conjunction with the National Sprint Regatta at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham. The competition was part of a joint venture between Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) and the British Canoe Union's Paddleability.
SOGB's Regional Development Manager and Kayaking Technical Coordinator, Bob Billson said: "The event was a great partnership between SOGB, the British Canoe Union and Paddleability. The competition showcased how much our organisations can accomplish by working together."
The athletes participated with physical and learning disabilities from all over the country. Paddleability coach, Julie Lowe said: "The expansion of Paddleability to include Special Olympics provides another avenue for the athletes to progress through to competition both regionally and internationally."
For the first time, one of the races was a unified event. It followed the Special Olympics Unified Sports Initiative combining athletes with intellectual disabilities and those without which provides another level of challenge for higher ability athletes and promotes equality and inclusion.
Kayaking has been a recognised sport to SOGB since 2003 and it is hoped that more athletes will be encourage to take part. Bob Billson said, "The event was a platform to bring more learning disabled athletes to participate, in order to try and expand the sport. The gold medals won at the Beijing Olympic Games have really brought the sport into the spotlight. We are pleased to have two world class athletes as our Ambassadors: extreme kayaker Shaun Baker and World Champion Anna Hemmings."
For more information on the Special Olympics log onto the website www.sogb.org.uk.
Results from the Special Olympics' National Kayaking Competition, click here.