A Look Back at 2017

2017 A good year for The Sharks

A big thank-your to everyone involved in making 2017 a good year for The Sharks, here are just a few memories from the year.

Numbers involved

983C2528-384B-412B-B787-5F3D26E10244

We had over 2,500 attendances at Osterley Park in our partnership with the National Trust. We would like to thank their staff for all the help the have given, not just in 2017, but since the start of the partnership, we look forward to returning at Easter 2018. We would also like to thank British Canoeing, for supporting this project by providing a new fleet of sit-on-top kayaks and the London Borough of Hounslow for their support.

IMG_1496 IMG_1493

Competitive

Slalom

We hosted two national ranking canoe slaloms, one at Harefield and one at Shepperton, both division 3 and division 4 (entry level). Thank-you to Shepperton Canoe Club for their help in organising both of these events and to all the Shark members who turned up and helped as well as coaches, parents and paddlers from other clubs.

http://www.hollypiggott.com/p641667999

http://www.hollypiggott.com/p641667999

As well as hosting two events, we entered a number of other slaloms, we had four Shark paddlers promoted and we had competitors racing in Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4. Well done to everyone who took part.

6B522578-2AC7-429E-8CD1-A2A9C2181FCF

As well as hosting two events, we entered a number of other slaloms, we had four Shark paddlers promoted and we had competitors racing in Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4. Well done to everyone who took part.

Wild Water Racing

IMG_0768

Wild Water Racing still forms a major part of our competitive side and Susan Templeton is organising Wild Water Races on behalf of The Sharks in partnership with Itchen Valley Canoe Club. Susan has been running the Southern Series Wild Water Racing Championships and has managed to get a number of other clubs involved in organising events, so we now have more races, more clubs involved and of course more paddlers.

9277D2BC-3E37-4EF9-8935-212870D03382

We have had a number of paddlers racing in Wild Water throughout 2017 at the races we have attended. Including our first full International Paddler, Grant Underwood, who represented Great Britain at the European Championships in Skopje.

114002F4-F704-4029-9507-3C1706C001AD

Sprint

We are still building our Sprint Team and attended two national regattas, well done to all those who took part and hope we can have a few more paddlers attending in 2018.

EE3E51F9-F1E2-43C3-A8F8-828D467D4482

Marathon

We have also started a Marathon Racing team in 2017, early days but some good performances, so a bright 2018 to look forward to.

3935A0D6-5F64-44D2-A987-15C7BA618F1E

London Youth Games

IMG_1270

W provided paddlers and medal winners for both The London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Hillingdon in this years London Youth Games. Bringing home gold for the second year running and adding a silver and bronze as well. Who wants to go next year?

Where are we at?

We have held sessions at:

Harefield

E710E940-9855-402A-8F7F-26DE36B0A032

During the Summer we were at Harefield every Monday evening with our slalom paddlers, during the Winter we have been paddling on Sunday morning. We also ran sessions here during the School Holidays. These sessions are open to everyone, come along and get involved.

Southall

We held regular race training sessions at Southall Activity Centre (Sac) on Wednesday and Thursday evenings during the Summer and during the Winter on Sunday afternoons. We also use Sac for land based training on Wednesday and Thursdays during the Winter, so don’t use the cold as an excuse.

IMG_0617

As well as club sessions at Sac, we have held sessions for many Scout groups who use the site and for some school sessions. Interested in what we can do for your group?

25724188963_5d16e6f5cf_o

Sac is not the only location we use in Southall, we take boats out to Featherstone Primary School and run an after-school Club for them on a Monday evening. We also run sessions for Three Bridges Primary School at Havelock and from Easter 2018, we will be running regular sessions at Havelock on a Tuesday evening and a Sunday morning. We will be basing our Marathon Racing Team there, in a partnership with Three Bridges School.

IMG_1352

Hillingdon Leisure Centre, Uxbridge

IMG_1386

We run sessions in the outdoor pool at Hillingdon Leisure Centre during the Summer months, as well as teaching people basics in a the pool before trying out the canals and rivers, we also host group sessions here for Scouts, Cubs, Beavers, Guides and Brownies. Occasionally we use the indoor pool during the Winter.

bannerpool

We also ran a session on the Frays River at Fassnidge Park in Uxbridge in conjunction with Thames 21 and we hope to be organising regular events at this location in 2018.

Osterley Park

IMG_2105

As mentioned above we run an amazing number of sessions at Osterley Park, every Sunday between the beginning of April and the end of October, every Saturday from May to end of September, We also run our award winning satellite club here on a Wednesday evening. Additionally we host sessions for Scouts, Home Educated youngsters and other groups.

sceenshot

Hayes

IMG_1678

We were again providing fun and activity at the Hayes Canal Festival and from Easter 2018 we will be running regular sessions in Hayes Town Centre. Keep a look out on our website for more details.

We have been to a few other places as well

IMG_1657IMG_1216London Regattabarrow11BCB6FD-DF44-4555-BD38-6041F6692AC4 1B751FEA-37A1-4840-9310-8715EF261012 85F37D3E-B371-4277-AE61-042411DCBA24 9DFE9127-5509-4348-8E28-10D56E437196 AAF0DCBC-7064-46E0-98F4-5C144D6CB7D5

People

It is people, that made 2017 special, thank-you to everyone involved, all the people, who helped, the people who participated, those we met, our coaches our comptitors and the competition as well as our partners.

IMG_1517IMG_1699IMG_1547IMG_1683IMG_1671

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

IMG_0448MedalsatShep115753A0-14B7-4F31-A9FC-B218F0412A006B522578-2AC7-429E-8CD1-A2A9C2181FCFIMG_1691

http://www.hollypiggott.com/p641667999

http://www.hollypiggott.com/p641667999

Sam and AlexSwim finishRichard MoorepigletskatherineF1832E24-D849-4078-A202-77F1732B52C6 0BDD1E66-D25A-4918-92B8-4B47BAEC2624 C61F41F0-7618-43F0-9336-61AA89A3639D EDE5D43B-08A6-4F73-81B5-D4076076CD27 287911EB-15AF-4891-8465-FC4FA7B7615F D1639B65-6E80-4A03-8C5F-E011CB14051B 29CF9542-2242-4C15-AF77-8FFD932A7D69 99849236-D85C-422C-87B9-6A7D6C03E10F 3D428557-94F9-4D28-8F2D-CC4E82884675 7AC33DD4-F681-4871-AA1C-EE4855F2DE8D 9EAA0CED-9070-430F-9222-D5328C0F8A41 43926F36-DDEA-4D66-A7D2-AE694A5ACB31 9ABEC37D-1178-4689-931C-DEF75E4F6377 2AE362DB-3195-4392-9719-A9B7FFE05AEE F3AEC7E5-CC1A-4E9B-9EF9-FEEF2ABC7E63

Thank-you