As 2018 comes to a close, it’s a perfect time to reflect on another amazing year for paddling in Australia and for our paddlers on the international stage. It’s been wonderful to see our paddlers, coaches and members recognised for their achievements on and off the water through the various nominations for awards here in Australia and internationally over the last few months.
From Jessica Fox, the greatest female slalom paddler of all time, to the most successful Paralympic paddler with Curtis McGrath and a dominant ocean racer with Cory Hill to some exciting performance across our up and coming talent in the Under 23 and Junior age groups, there is lots to get excited about just a year and a half out from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and with more Paralympic, Olympic and non-Olympic major events and World Championships on the horizon.
Find out more in this Olympic and Paralympic wrap thanks to our ‘Paddle Pals’ kayakers Alyce Burnett, Alyssa Bull and Cat McArthur:
We have also had some outstanding events and performances across our wildwater, canoe polo and freestyle disciplines and are excited to be hosting the 2019 Sydney International Whitewater Festival over two weekends in February, bringing together the best of the best in slalom, wildwater and freestyle paddling in an exciting new event format. Stay tuned for more news on this in the new year.
We have captured some of this year’s highlights in this end of year wrap. We hope you enjoy it.
Paddling continues to grow and we are committed to continuing to promote paddlesports across the country and for everyone, whatever their age or ability.
On behalf of Paddle Australia, thank you to our paddlers, race officials, volunteers, coaches, board members, state organisations and staff as well as to our partners at Sport Australia, the Australian Olympic Committee, the Australian Paralympic Committee, the AIS and the State Institutes for all your support throughout the year! We look forward to another exciting year ahead and to working with you in 2019 as we continue to shape the future of paddling in Australia.
From everyone at Paddle Australia, we would like to wish you and your families a very merry christmas, a safe holiday period and a happy new year.
We are looking forward to seeing you all on the water in 2019.
– The Paddle Australia Team
