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Congratulations to Dennis Newton with the Canoe England Performance Coach of the Year Award. The award was in recognition of his work in Freestyle Paddlesport with national athletes and grass roots participation. The sixth annual volunteer and recognition awards took place on October 27th at Eastwood Hall, Nottingham. The dinner provided an opportunity to recognise all the hard work by the many thousands of paddlesport coaches across the country that have made it possible for so many people Read more…

The event can only be entered by completing our online registration and payment. For some parts of the event we also have limited entry, so please make sure you get registered ASAP. Booking now open for the Hurley Classic; Click Here for Booking The event attracts the best paddlers but also is a superb place for people who wish to start out and get involved with the support of a community. You’ll find a friendly welcoming Read more…

This year KJO and the UK Freestyle Committee have organised a joint event of a GB League /Selection competition and the SAS Hurley Classic. The event enjoys the backing of software giants SAS and the Environment Agency. Sweetwater Coaching will be running coaching workshops for the new BCU Freestyle Awards, and have also provided prizes for the competition. Advice confirming final details of the event and confirmation that the event is still on will be Read more…

The 24 year old from New Zealand showed clearly that for a third time in a row he is the fastest extreme kayaker in the world.  Sam Sutton again defended his title with a winning time of 56.92 seconds, which was short of his 2011 course record (55.84), but was fast enough to secure the gold medal in front of the Slovenia’s Dejan Kralj with a time of 57.81 seconds and Mike Dawson (NZL) time of Read more…

I have just got back to the UK following a fantastic two month freestyle tour of the East Coast of Canada and the USA. Starting in Canada my training began on the Ottawa river where I spent 2 weeks working on my wave and mystery skills. Surfing garb, push button, corner wave and baby face and sinking on the world class squirt boating eddy line ‘smoothie’ (just above McCoy’s) everyday, I had the chance to Read more…

Hi all, Some great news. The BCU Freestyle Awards are going live with the introduction of the 3 Star Award. For those of you wondering about the freestyle awards here is some info that may help; What are the benefits of freestyle star awards? I guess the first thing to say is that the BCU awards in general provide a hub for gathering the current thinking in paddlesport skills and techniques. This allows the star Read more…

Over the last 3 weeks the USA has seen over 120 of the top freestyle kayakers from around the world come together to take part in the 2012 World Cup series. The freestyle kayaking World Cup series takes place every two years and is made up of 3 competitions with the top ranking paddler from all 3 individual events taking the overall win. This years events are all taking place in America and the finals Read more…

Austria never seems to loose it’s attraction. As far as rivers go Austria has some of the best whitewater in Europe.  The water levels are high at the moment with lots of rain adding to the melt water – all making for perfect water levels. Today I took my new Stomper 90 for a blast down the upper section of the Pitzbach. I’ve been paddling the small 80 for some time and was keen to see if the Read more…

As part of our Europe tour we were invited to test out the new kayak ramp at Area 47, an ultimate adventure and extreme sports centre in the heart of Austria. Area 47 has been a base for people to come and take part in many extreme  and adventure sports for the last few years and now hosts a 45 foot high, custom built, kayak ramp amidst its impressive water park. The new ramp allows Read more…

The programme is funded by Sweetwater Coaching, which supports a selected number of athletes per year. The purpose of the ASP is to ensure that athletes identified with international potential are provided the necessary opportunities to achieve international success. The programme  has developed many new areas of athlete support in freestyle kayaking, including remote coaching services – wherever  you  are in the world. Although the programme originally set out to provide access to UK athletes home and abroad, Read more…