Photo by Harry Price

Dennis is an award-winning performance coach, receiving several awards, including the British Canoeing Performance Coach of the Year, World Paddle Award and he is a member of the World Paddle Award Academy, a group of the most influential and legendary figures in paddlesport.

Developing a passion for whitewater at an early age, he remains at the forefront of the whitewater coaching field with a wealth of experience as a guide and coach. To enable others to experience the same opportunities, he has developed several youth programmes, including a first of a kind programme aimed at building the skills used to run grade 4(5) steep creeks and waterfalls in the UK.

Dennis has equal enthusiasm for freestyle and has been leading the GB Freestyle Kayaking Performance Programme since 2013. He played a key role in creating the Performance Pathway to promote freestyle participation and athlete development; including founding the GB Freestyle Youth Academy.

Dennis is an active member of the kayaking community. Keen to support projects and help grow participation and share knowledge and experiences. Having been a member of the British Canoeing Whitewater and Freestyle Technical Groups for several years, Dennis assisted in the development of performance and coaching qualifications for whitewater and freestyle. He’s currently an independent advisor for the ICF Freestyle Committee Rules Group, and many projects globally. 

Back in 2011 Dennis saw the success of the British Canoeing World Class programme in the Olympic canoeing disciplines and established similar programmes for athletes in the non-Olympic disciplines of freestyle kayaking and extreme racing. As part of this he established the ADP/ASP (Athlete Support Programme) to provide world class coaching and support to freestyle athletes from around the world.

He is widely respected and admired for his innovative and effective coaching methods, which have influenced the development of freestyle kayaking as a sport. Dennis is committed to enabling kayakers of all levels to achieve their potential, with some of the most accomplished and influential freestylers in the world crediting him as a major source of guidance and support.  

With his work through the ADP/ASP and GB Freestyle Dennis has achieved remarkable results, coaching athletes to set new world records and substantially narrow the performance gap between women and their male peers. His coaching and mentoring have made significant contributions towards over 100 international medals since 2009, with 50 (17 Gold) World Championship medals, 25 (10 Gold) European Championships, and multiple World and European Cup titles. His coaching and expertise are renowned; with his contributions continuing to shape the coaching methodology used in freestyle today.

FAST FACTS:

Qualifications

British Canoeing Level 5 Whitewater Kayak

Coaching Experience

Over 20 years of coaching experience developing coaching programmes (Grass-roots to high Performance) for whitewater paddlesport all over the globe; including coaching and consulting for Teams and National Governing Body’s.

Whitewater Experience

Extensive experience travelling the globe in search of challenging rivers, and represented Team GB in K1 Freestyle.

Sponsors

Jackson Kayak, Kokatat, Werner Paddles, System’X, Surfplugs