Athlete Joined our Thamesmead sessions in 2025 and is now racing.
Athlete Taking up kayaking in 2025 at our Thamesmead site and racing before the year was out.
Athlete and Staff Caitlin joined our sessions at Thamesmead in 2025 with other members of our family.
Athlete Sheila started racing after joining our sessions at Thamesmead.
Athlete New to paddling, Lizzie started in 2025 at Thamesmead.
Athlete Emilia is the product of our sessions at Thamesmead, along with other members of her family.
Athlete Michelle has joined our Club at Thamesmead and has started racing at the events we held there in 2025.
Athlete Abbey started paddling in 2025 as The Sharks opens our facility in Thamesmead, it was not long before she was racing for us.
Athlete Making her racing debut at the Barrow in October 2024, Carmel was just behind daughter Ryo, also making her debut.
Athlete Ryo raced for The Sharks for the first time at the Barrow-on-Soar River Race in October, She was 11th in the Ladies’ K1 event and second J16.
Athlete Daniel has a talented slalom paddler who has recently returned to competitive paddling.
Athlete and Coach Peter has recently joined our coaching team, he is an experienced marathon paddler racing in Division 3 and has recently completed the Devizes to West Minster Canoe Race.
Coach and Athlete Neal is our lead Wild Water Racing Coach, although he also coaches Marathon and Sprint. Like most of our coaches, Neal has a background in competitive canoeing and does still race.
Athlete Aliana started as part of the PE lessons for Y3 at Three Bridges Primary School, and joined the Club sessions with other family members. Making her racing debut at the Barrow in October 2025.
Athlete Khaleel has maintained his position of The Sharks top ranked slalom paddler for the fifth consecutive year.
Athlete In 2024 Liah became The Sharks top female slalom paddler having come 19th in Ladies Division 3 K1 with 417 points from just 3 events. She was also was Ranked 12th in the UK Ladies K1 Wild Water Racing and second Under 16. This year, studies have limited her appearances.
Athlete and Coach Grant is The Sharks own home grown international talent, having represented Great Britain in Wild Water Racing, he also races Slalom, Sprint and Marathon
Athlete Anaya joined competitive teams, when she entered the Elmbridge Marathon on May 11th 2025. Now at High School, she first started paddling with The Sharks through our partnership with Three Bridges Primary School.
Athlete Jasmin is ranked in Slalom and River Racing, her appearances in 2025 have been limited due to her doctoral studies.
Athlete Ivijah came to The Sharks through our partnership with Harlesden Primary School, and has made quiet an impact on canoeing since, although still young, Ivijah has great team spirit and is always willing to help out new paddlers.
Athlete Richard Davis has a long history of racing in the UK and beyond, at 87 years old, the oldest slalom paddler in the UK, World, he is still competing in National Division 3 Slalom,
Athlete A paddler with a lot of experience now in Division 3 slalom, races Wild Water.
Athlete and Slalom Coach at Harefield Rick leads our Slalom Team based at Harefield, he is a very experienced paddler and still competes.
Athlete Alistair made his Slalom Debut for The Sharks at Langham Farm in April 2023, coming 11th in his first event. He has also added Wild Water Racing to his competitions racing at Barrow-on-Soar, in November 2023.
One of our older generation of paddlers, who races with the Itchen Valley Shark contingent and although mobility is becoming more difficult for the 75-year old, however, he turns up and races, proving that Kayaking is a sport for all people.
Athlete Moemen started paddling through Harlesden Primary Schools’ After-School Club with us.
Athlete Mohammed joined us via our partnership with Harlesden Primary School in 2025 and has very quickly joined our competitive racing teams.
Athlete Although Ezikiel paddles with the St. Mary’s Primary after school club at Southall, he started paddling with us independently first. His First Rae was in The London Wild Water Racing Championships in 2025.
Athlete Imran joined in sessions with us when his two daughters started paddling at Southall, he made his racing debut in the Cedric Avery Mini Marathon Series in October 2025.
Athlete One of the youngest paddlers to race, she made her first debut in the Cedric Avery Mini-Marathons at Harefield in October 2025.
Athlete The latest member to join our competitive Squads, Maximilian made his debut at the Barrow Race in November 2024. Coming 31st over all, and 4th Junior 12 age category.
Athlete Seven-year-old Kiyan became the youngest ever Shark to race in an individual event, when he came 37th at the Barrow race in October 2024 and 2nd J8.
Athlete Abdullah is the youngest of the Syed paddlers (Salih and Abdurrahman) at just 8 years old, he made his debut in slalom at Cardington in August 2024 and then in Wild Water Racing at Barrow in November 2024.
Athlete Another one of our junior paddlers (under 10) making his debut in canoe slalom at Cardington in August 2024 and then his Wild Water Racing Debut at Barrow in November 2024.
Athlete Making his Shark debut at Cardington Slalom in August 2024, coming 20th over all and 4th J12 in Men’s Division 4, he has also raced WWR taking 27th and 2nd J12 at the Barrow Race in November 2024.
Athlete Nicolas entered his first race at Cardington in August 2024, his second was a week later at Langham Farm, which was disrupted due to high water levels from the excessive rain.
Athlete Ian joined our competitive squads at Cardington Slalom in August 2024, where he came 9th in Men’s K1 Division 4 and first senior. He joined our Wild Water Racing Team at the November 2024 Barrow Race coming 23rd.
Teacher, Coach, Athlete Aaron is currently ranked in Division 2 for Slalom Men’s K1, although not raced for a couple of years, he is one of our teachers and coaches, looking forward to seeing you race again soo.
Athlete Adam has recently returned to racing wit The Sharks Wild Water Racing Team at Barrow in October, where he took top Shark spot. He has also race Sprint and Marathon in the past and is looking forward to 2025.
Saturday 27th December Need to get out for a while and escape the celebrations for some peace and quiet of the canal? The we have the ideal event for you: The Christmas Cedric Avery Mini-Marathon, starting at 11am.
Plenty of races to get involved with The Sharks have targeted a number of races for us to get involved with some are on our own home territory, other involve day trips or overnight stays. Get involved, have fun and see how far you can go.
The First Race of the New Year Racing in 2026 commences on Saturday 10th January at the Legendary Barrow-Upon-Soar Race, organised by Soar Valley Canoe Club.
Saturday 17th January 2026 Two races for the price of one, a day out in Burton-on-Trent, a race suitable of all standards, beginners to experience paddlers. Sprint event in the morning (200m) and 2k classic in the afternoon.
Winter Slaloms, get ready for 2026 The annual Stone Mini Slaloms take place on the Sundays of January 25th, February 8th, and February 22nd, including a slalom cross event on January 25th.
Next Race 8th November The Legendary Barrow Wild Water Race series next race on Saturday November 8th and continues once a moth through to March 2026.
Monthly Mini-Marathons The next race takes place on Saturday 27th December. The last Saturday of each month. Full details are here, with Risk Assessment here.
Our annual Sprint challenge in Harlesden. We have introduced a new challenge at our base in Harlesden, NW10, a monthly Sprint race on the canal with distances of 200m, 500m and 1,000m. Next race is Wednesday April 15th 2026.
Our annual challenge in Southall We have set up a series of Sprint evenings in Southall, running in the Summer moths to give everyone the chance to see how they are progressing, to have some fun and enjoy racing. Great for spectators too.
The Final of the 2025 Series Summer paddling at Harlesden draws in and we hosted our final Sprint races of the season, including a race with and for Harlesden Primary School youngsters attending the after school club.
A new event with a difference A small group of Shark Paddlers tried out an event with a difference, it was more about time on the water and learning new skills, in preparation for competition, although there were some non-ranking races to help.
The Charity Race of the year The second Great Harlesden Charity Canoe Race took part on Wednesday 24th September, raising money for local charities, the Brent Food Bank and Queens Park Rangers Community Trust. Both these charities support local people.
Preparing for Marathon The Sharks have introduced the Harlesden GS Series, the races are 3.5k long and are aimed at preparing youngsters for the Geoff Sanders Races at ranking marathons. However, we also run races for seniors.
We are looking for staff The Sharks are looking for people to teach and coach canoeing at all of our sites. We maybe able to help you get the relevant qualifications, whilst you work for us. Get in touch email: canoeing@thesharks.org.uk, or call: 07951 770241.