FLOWSTATE Issue 4

CANOE SLALOM IRISH OPEN
INAUGURAL CANOEING IRELAND AWARDS NIGHT
COMPETITION SEASON KICKING OFF FOR ATHLETES
FLOWthe ISSUE #4 APRIL 2019
official magazine of
LIAM JEGOU
in flying form as Olympic
Qualifiers beckon!
Inaugural Canoeing Ireland Awards
full list of winners and photographs inside!

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
Welcome back to FLOWSTATE, and to the first edition of 2019. We are delighted that this
year started on a celebratory note with the Canoeing Ireland Awards Gala being held on the
26th January 2019 in the Lucan Spa Hotel. This well attended inaugural event brought the
paddling community together to commend the achievements of clubs, volunteers and
athletes over the past year.
We would like to especially congratulate the kayakers who represented Team Ireland at the
World Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi and on their huge achievements and successes on
the water.
Canoeing Ireland has now commenced the second of its three-year recovery strategy of
Stabilization, Consolidation and Growth. While the first two areas remain an on-going and
important element of this process, the focus for 2019 is on growing the organization
through a three-pronged approach of enhancing Clubs, building Collaborations and
enabling Competitors in line with the strategic plan 2017-2020.
Our membership is the reason for our existence, and clubs are a principal focal point for
members. Last year we conducted a number of consultation with clubs and members to
understand what was working and what wasn’t. This year the Board is reviewing ways and
initiatives by which to assist and facilitate clubs to progress, while addressing any barriers
which may prevent or impede such developments.
Secondly, the Board is exploring new opportunities for partnerships with bodies and state
agencies where there are mutual and synergistic objectives to expand activities and
promote paddlesports. As a National Governing Body, there is great potential for collaborations
with other organization which will in turn leverage existing resources and funding.
The third focus for the Board this year as part of its growth strategy is to put supports,
processes and policies in place to expedite athlete performance in all disciplines. With the
recent appointment of Jon Mackey as High Performance Director, structures are being
implemented to deliver sustainable and progressive impact.
Lastly, the Board would like to notify members of the upcoming 58th Annual General
Meeting which will be held in Sport Ireland Headquarters on Sunday 19th of May 2019. We
hope that we will see a strong turnout of members and clubs
on the day. The Board is also keen to invite nominations from
members who may be interested in joining the Board of
Canoeing Ireland.
With lots of events, trips and competitions to look forward to in
the coming months, enjoy the water and safe paddling.
B Oе
HONORARY SECRETARY
CONTENTS
ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight on Liam Jegou 4
Volunteer of the Year Award 2018 - Adrian Barber 6
Gearing up for the 2019 Season - Caoimhe O’Ferrall 8
PADDLING NEWS
Leading the way with Multi-Disciplined Approach
to Training Juniors Wild Water Kayak Club 9
UL Host and Win the Intervarsity Kayaking Championship 11
Jegou goes Clear to Win Canoe Slalom Irish Open 2019 13
THE MORE YOU KNOW
The Irish Junior 5K Canoe Racing Series 10
Round Up! Canoe Polo 12
The 20x20 Campaign 14
Development Session and Events for 2019 - Irish Freestyle 19
FLOWSTATE FOCUS
The Inaugural Canoeing Ireland Awards 16
ON THE COVER: Spotlight on Liam Jegou - Full story on pg4
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SPOTLIGHT ON
LIAM JEGOU
Liam Jegou sounds excited. He is imagining the prospect of canoeing at a high-profile event in Ireland.
The 23-year-old athlete is originally from
County Clare, but moved to the east of France
at the age of seven. The year before last, he
decided to re-locate to Pau, where he would
train and study.
Despite spending most of his life elsewhere, in
sport, he represents the country of his birth
and hopes to return there one day.
Jegou got a sense of the possibilities that
training in Ireland would create in 2017, when
he spent time in the Institute of Sport while
recuperating from an injury.
“It’s an inspiring environment,”, “you see lots of
great athletes. I wasn’t the only one that was
injured there.”
The announcement last April of plans to build
a whitewater kayak course in Dublin’s IFSC
increased Jegou’s sense of optimism.
The original date of completion was identified
as some time in 2020, and Jegoe is hopeful
this development can help spearhead a
revolution in Irish canoeing.
It’s been period of change in general for the
athlete. He is now being coached by Nico
Peschier, who represented France at the
Athens Olympics in 2004.
“I’ve actually got a new coaching set-up since
November 2018 thanks to Mike Corcoran,
who was an Olympian for Ireland in ’92 and
’96,” he says. “I met him at the World Cup final
last year and got to chat with him about his
experiences.”
“He decided to sponsor me and help with my
coaching fees. So that’s a huge game changer
since that happened. I’m really in a great
position for next year. I’ve just got to put the
work in.”
However, if all goes according to plan, the
most significant development in Jegou’s
career has yet to come to fruition.
Currently, you either have to live abroad or
travel an awful amount to be able to
[represent Ireland and] compete with the top
nations,” he says. “That will change if we get
our course in Dublin. To be able to train and
study in Dublin would just be exceptional.
“You look at the facilities we have in Ireland,
like the Sport Ireland Institute. If we had that
plus a whitewater course, I really believe that
Irish canoe slalom could compete with the
best in the world.
“It would be a dream to race a World Cup final
in Dublin, it would be insane. “
“To be able to train on a whitewater course in
Dublin and get the support from the Sport
Ireland Institute, I can’t think of a better
scenario.”
While the outlook is promising, Ireland still has
some work to do. The same could be said of
Jegou. He is in the middle of a long journey,
which began at the age of seven. As a
youngster, he gained inspiration from
watching Eoin Rheinisch at the Olympics. The
Dubliner finished an incredible fourth at the
Beijing Games — the best-ever performance
by an Irishman at that level.
Jegou’s father was also a formative influence.
Just under a decade ago, he took the
then-14-year-old and a couple of his fellow
paddlers to Eastern Europe to compete
against athletes from the top nations in the
sport — Czech Republic, Slovenia and
Slovakia among others.
“That was the real starting point for me,” he
recalls. “That’s when I wanted to be a
high-performance canoeist. I also realised I
could.”
Jegou went on to show immense potential.
One of the standout moments of his career so
far came in 2014, when he finished a
phenomenal second and picked up a silver
medal at the Junior World Championships.
The accomplished athlete’s achievements
have not gone unnoticed in his homeland.
Since 2016, he has been supported by Sport
Ireland and is currently on an Olympic
Solidarity grant.
And while Jegou’s rise has been impressive,
there have been no shortage of stumbling
blocks along the way.
He continued to progress up until 2016 and
narrowly missed out on a place at the Rio
Olympics — a performance he has “no regrets”
over, as he “gave it everything”.
Shortly thereafter, the injury problems began
to intensify. Jegou damaged his hip — an
issue that ultimately put him out of action for
months.
I really felt like I was taking off. It was kind of
like someone put the handbrake on all of a
sudden.
“I had to take the winter off training. I had to
modify a lot of my technique around my hip
injury.”
He continues: “It was a very annoying injury
because I’m still sore today. I’m always a little
bit sore when I’m training. It’s one of those
weird injuries. I didn’t tear my shoulder out or
something like that. It’s just a hip injury that’s
been at me since 2016. I had surgery on it
once. In the middle of the winter in 2017, I
wasn’t contemplating retirement, but I was
wondering if it was reasonable to just think
about slalom now and put all my eggs in one
basket.”
These problems forced Jegou to take stock of
his situation and prompted a change in
mindset.
“I think I’m a bit more mature now,” he says. “As
an athlete, I know what I want on the water. I
know how to train better or smarter. I get a lot
of small injuries. I’m not always injured, but I
always have a sore hip or knee or whatever.
[The setbacks have] taught me how to train
smarter and be smarter on the water. Not just
to go 110% in every session.”
Jegou’s obsessive approach towards his
sport was also an issue. He needed something
different. The move to Pau provided that
change of scenery, and he is now in the
second year of a degree in Translation at the
local university — a badly needed distraction
from the rigours of competing.
“I’m trying to keep a certain balance,” he says.
“I don’t think just training is a good idea. It’s
not always easy. I’m very focused on the
sports side of things. With university, I’m
getting by, but I’m not putting all my energy
into it.”
Pau is also a very convenient location from a
sporting perspective. The 2019 European
Canoe Slalom Championships, which run from
31 May to 2 June, take place there, so unlike
many of the athletes, he will have an intimate
knowledge of the course ahead of this
summer’s event.
The following September, just four hours away
from Pau, the World Championships will take
place in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain. The event will
also be important in terms of qualification for
the 2020 Olympics and Jegou feels he is in
good stead ahead of this hugely important
period.
“I had a bit of a crazy feeling. I started the
season really badly. I felt in the shape of my life
and I just completely messed up my first two
races. The European Championships and my
two first World Cups — I came dead last in the
second World Cup and I just didn’t know what
was going on.
I injured myself again. I have a recurring hip
issue. It put me out of the boat for four weeks.
But when I came back, it was like I was
rejuvenated. I finished off the season in great
form. I came back at the European U23
Championships and I came fifth. I had two
penalties and had it not been for the last
penalty I would have come third. Without
penalties, it’s easy to say. But I had a great run,
great competition, coming fifth. Then I came
sixth in the qualification event at the World
Cup. In the semi-final, I came 22nd, again with
two really good runs. Then I finished off the
season at the World Championships in Rio
with a qualification run.
“In the qualification event, I qualified fourth.
So that was probably one of my best individual
runs so far. So going into the semi-final, I was
with the top paddlers in the world. I had an
Olympic champion in front of me, a vice
Olympic champion behind me. I came from
fourth in the race and completely [messed up]
my semi-final run, but it was a great
experience. I finished off the season really
strongly and it gave me a lot of confidence
heading into winter training.
“If it was the World Championships [in 2018
that decided Olympic slots], I would have
qualified for the Games. I was the ninth nation
out of 11 that qualify. So I’m confident. I’m
training in [the venue for the Olympic
qualifiers] at least once a month to make sure
I know the course very well. I’m training hard. I
think I’ve got all the chances on my side now. I
just have to do the work, paddle my best and
get it done.”
Jegou’s sheer positivity is palpable and
perhaps inevitably, as the interview draws to a
close, thoughts return again to the years
ahead and the thrilling prospect of what’s to
come.
“I think the future for Canoeing in Ireland is
looking bright. I have had some really great
support from Canoeing Ireland of late and in
particular the new High Performance
structures within the association” he says.
“I’m very optimistic for 2019, I would like to say
a special thanks to Sport Ireland and the
Olymic Federation of Ireland for their
continued support.
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VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 2018
ADRIAN BARBER
Paddlefest event, the Liffey Descent and the Canoeing
Ireland Club Championships.
FlowState: What was your greatest personal achievements?
Interview with Canoeing Ireland’s Volunteer of the Year for 2018.
Adrian Barber was recently
voted Volunteer of the Year at
the inaugural Canoeing Ireland
Awards held in the Spa Hotel in
Lucan in January this year.
Adrian, also known as Aido, has been
involved in paddlesports since 1984 and
can be regularly seen at Canoe Polo events
and Wild Water Kayak Club (WWKC) events
around the country. Aido has been on the
Canoe Polo Committee for 17 years,
stepping down last year. Aido still plays
Canoe Polo and runs rivers on a regular
basis.
This is an interview that Flow State carried
out with Aido on the back of his
well-deserved win.
FlowState: Hi Aido congratulations on
getting volunteer for the year. What does
winning this award mean to you?
Aido: Thanks guys. It was a great privilege to
be nominated for the award as it recognizes
the dedication and time that all the volunteers
put into making paddlesports work in this
country. Without volunteers a lot of this sport
would not function. Whether it be at club level,
national level or on the international circuit,
volunteers are always around helping to make
the sport work.
FlowState: What do you think made the
Selection Committee pick you?
Aido: Every one of the people selected, and a
lot more people in the room on the night
deserved to win this reward. Each one of us
has given to the sport in many different ways;
some people are coaches who coach
international players at the highest level in our
sport, some people are on committees,
whether at Canoeing Ireland level, club level,
disciplines committees or sub committees.
Some people are instructors, bringing new
people into our sport and mentoring them on
their journey. Some people are club coaches
who spent time working with young athletes,
training the pool of talent and keeping us
relevant on the World stage.
All of these are represented by this award and
deserve to be nominated.
FlowState: what roles have you fulfilled that
would have helped you be selected?
Aido: Up until November I was Chairperson of
the Canoeing Ireland Canoe Polo Committee.
I served on that committee for 17 years having
carried out several roles including
Chairperson twice. On top of that I am an
active Level 3 instructor with WWKC and have
ran Level 2 and 3 skill courses with them for
over 20year. I am also a level 2 Canoe Polo
Coach and have setup Canoe Polo teams in
WWKC for the same amount of time. I have
also served time on the Canoe Ireland board,
the WWKC Committee and the Dublin Canoe
Polo committee.
FlowState: So it has been mainly Canoe
Polo events you have volunteered for?
Aido: Since joining WWKC I have spent a lot of
time running their twice monthly River Trips. I
would be one of the regular instructors
leading the groups down the likes of the
Boyne, the Liffey, the Inny or the Wicklow
Rivers. I am also help with the club weekends
away and continuously push people to go on
these trips and paddle in new adventures. On
top of that I am always at the Junior
Aido: When I was Chairperson of Canoe Polo Ireland when the
U21 men’s team won the bronze medal at the Canoe Polo
European championships. This was the best result of any Irish
Canoe Polo Team.
FlowState: If there was one, what was the low point of your
paddling career?
Aido: There was one unfortunately. During our Irish Open in
2008 we had teams from Russia, Denmark, and USA and all
over the UK when the local club decided to disrupt the
tournament. It took Irish Canoe Polo a long time to recover
from it. At our peak we had 51 teams enter our Irish Open. Now
we struggle to get 30.
FlowState: Did you ever organize a major event in Ireland?
Aido: in 2003 I was on the Organising Committee for the
Canoe Polo Europeans that were held in Dublin. We had 26
teams who were hosted by Kilcock. People still talk about the
event internationally and the event set the standard for future
Europeans and Worlds. The whole community stepped in to
help. Volunteers manned all the stations and we were the first
to produce live scores. This showed the true meaning of
volunteerism and how the community can pull together to
showcase our country.
FlowState: what would you like to see improved in the sport
Aido: Funding! Canoe Polo as a non-Olympic discipline has
gotten little-to-no funding over the years. In fact we have had
no money from any source for the last number of years. None
of the committee members claim expenses. We had a very
successful year in grant funding last year receiving a
€20000 grant that was put towards equipment and a
€5000 grant towards development. This funding sees us
with a new trailer and a new sets of equipment to help develop
the sport.
FlowState: At the Canoeing Ireland Awards Night the
Canoe Polo Committee also presented you a presentation.
Tell us a bit about this.
Aido: This was for 17 years of dedication to the Canoe Polo
Committee. They presented me with a watch. I was taken
aback when I noticed all the people at the ceremony giving me
a standing ovation. Very humbling.
FlowState: What would to say to people looking to volunteer
in the sport?
Aido: We volunteer not for reward but to maintain the highest
standards of the sport. Without volunteers our sport could not
function. I have always had a saying - ‘I work to live, not live to
work’. Get out there enjoy our sport and work to ensure that
any and all of our participants enjoy the sport. You get out of it
what you put into it.
FlowState: on that note Aido I would like to thank for the
interview.
Aido: Thank you for the opportunity!strongly and it gave me a
lot of confidence heading into winter training.
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GEARING UP FOR THE 2019 SEASON
CAOIMHE O’FERRALL
LEADING THE WAY WITH MULTI-DISCIPLINED
APPROACH TO TRAINING JUNIORS
WILD WATER KAYAK CLUB
Wild Water Kayak Club (WWKC) has a long and successful
history of junior development.
Success stories such as World Champion Darragh Clarke
(WWR), Craig Cummins (WWR & Flat Water Racing), Maeve
Martin (WWR), Aisling Conlan (Slalom), Alan Murphy
(Freestyle) to name only a few.
Indeed from progressing juniors, the concept for
Paddlefest was born as WWKC led event when it first
exploded onto the scene many moons ago. The concept of
encouraging multi discipline approach within our junior
ranks is something that Wild Water Kayak Club continues to
aspire to.
Over the winter WWKC introduce and up skill their juniors, in
the calm warm waters of Clondalkin Leisure centre. Here
the “Signets” learn safe paddling fundamentals in a fun and
inclusive fashion. Once the weather turns warmer and the
evenings lengthen, the Signets are let loose on the River
Liffey at our Club House at the Strawberry Beds in Dublin.
Caoimhe O'Ferrall from County Meath is Ireland’s top International C1 women paddler in canoe slalom in
both U23 and senior level.
The Instructor Team continue to work with the juniors and
focus on their development as they earn their Level 2 wings
at the Tuesday Junior club nights, which then continue
across the summer. The Polo, open boats, slalom and K1
boats all get a run out as juniors just want to play on the
water, developing their skills and having aquatic fun under
the watchful eye of the qualified club instructors and
coaches.
Caoimhe is based in Nottingham and attends
Nottingham Trent University where she has
the best conditions for training and
preparation for Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Caoimhe's focus now is on the Irish
selections races which are being held in
La Seu d’Urgell, Spain in April 2019 and
all going well she hopes to race the
Senior European Championships, 4 Senior
World Championship races , the U23 Worlds
and U23 European Championships and finally
the Senior World Championships which is an
Olympic qualification race.
In 2017, she made a decision to move to the
UK so that she could have access to a
whitewater course for full time training and
combine this with her academic studies. She
admits that it is very hard to be away from her
family and the misses the support that she
had over the years on and off the water from
them. Without the emotional and financial
support that she gets from her family it would
not be possible to be where she is today. She
trains 6 days a week with her day starting at
6am, balancing whitewater sessions and gym
with her university studies.
Last season she struggled to return to race
fitness due to the injury sustained in the car
accident while attending her first
international race of the season in Prague.
However in her last race of the season she
finished in 7th place in C1W in Lee Valley at the
British Open/ICF ranking race in September.
For Caoimhe it was a small ray of sunshine, as
she was very disappointed with her season’s
results.
In November she started a heavy training
programme of gym and whitewater and for her
and her performance coach, the focus was to
get her back injury resolved. In December, she
competed in Intervarsity's (BUCS) in canoe
slalom in the UK and picked up a Gold medal in
C1W and 8th in K1W. This was followed by Gold
and Silver medals in Intervarsity's (BUCS) in
WWR in February at month.
At junior level, Caoimhe has won both Gold
and Silver overall in C1 in the European Canoe
Association Cup Races (ECA- 10 races). In
2015 she won the Alsace Regional
Championships which resulted in her being
promoted to the top division in France in N1.
In 2015 O'Ferrall as a junior, on her debut in
senior races, in the Senior World
Championships in London (which was one the
Rio Olympic Qualifier races) she placed 28st
in the heats, (12th boat place by country) at
that time there was no C1 category for women
in the Rio Olympics. That has changed now as
Women C1 will be in Tokyo and Caoimhe is
looking forward to September and the Senior
World championships in La Seu D’Ugell where
she will attempt get one of the 11 places for
Tokyo 2020 Olympics followed by the final
chance to qualify for the Olympics in the
Europeans in London in 2020.
Once the evenings close in, and after Paddlefest, we return
to the pool and continue to up skill, teaching the Eskimo roll,
getting comfortable in K1’s or playing Polo all the time
developing the junior’s skill base.
This year, thanks to Canoeing Ireland and Coach Jon
Simmons the Canoe Sprint National Coach has been talent
spotting and helping WWKC juniors learn the dark art of K1
and K2 racing boats.
.
From raw recruits at the pool, training at the club and then
attending the very successful Junior 5K All Ireland races,
the progression has been phenomenal, showing the benefit
of good coaching at the right time to willing participants.
Long may it continue!
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THE IRISH JUNIOR 5K
CANOE RACING SERIES
UL HOST AND WIN
INTERVARSITY KAYAKING
CHAMPIONSHIP
On the 15Th – 17th of February, University Limerick (UL)
was proud to host the inter-varsity Championships. UL had
over 350 people in attendance from 14 colleges from Kayak
Clubs all over the country. The intervarsity's was composed
of 5 different events. On Friday Whitewater in Castleconnell
at a perfect level. UL had home advantage but everyone
performed well tackling the rapids of S-bend. Friday
afternoon featured Canoe Polo in Killaloe The Polo final
went down to golden goal where they were at a draw at full
time and had begun extra time and the first team to score a
goal would win. It wasn't until the second half of extra time
that Trinity scored the deciding goal against DIT. A tense
game supported by cheers from supporters. For many it was
their first time seeing a Polo game in action and it was a
terrific watch.
Author: Jon Simmons
We caught up with National Coach Jon Simmons to discuss how the Junior 5K Series started up and
where the idea for this amazing development project began.
In 2014 I made the move to Ireland, I left my
homeland behind but brought with me the
knowledge and passion for our sport. I was
brought up in Wey Kayak club as most of you
Canoe Racers would know by now. There is a
winter series at my original club. I was lucky
enough to be brought into a racing
environment straight away giving me the
opportunity to compete against my peers. I
wanted to be the best!
I soon discovered after a year living in Ireland
that for Juniors there really wasn't much
going on to inspire them to push themselves
in a boat through the colder months. So in
2015 I put the idea together, I was going to
start a Race Series with sponsors and use
whatever money I could get to put towards
goodies for the winners. I asked myself the
question what should the distance be? It
soon became apparent that if 5K runs could
be such a success in parks that why wouldn't
it in a boat on a lake or canal?
To get started, I needed a system that allowed
athletes to earn points. I figured if I did races
every time I would generally get the same
winner, so to createa bit more excitement in
the series I decided to have one as a race and
another as an individual time trial and then
repeat. It turns out this was quite possibly the
best idea to make this series exciting!
February 2015 saw the start of the Series and
I had some great sponsors I-Canoe, Braca,
Jantex and I wouldn't have the best stickers
without Esmark Finch getting invloved. These
sponsors have supported the series since day
one! I am truly grateful for all of them and I
hope they continue to support this Series. To
make things even better, two years ago, Nelo
the biggest Kayak manufacture got on board
too. This meant a lot to me and truly shows
that all the top brands are behind this
initiative.
This was it, I had my sponsors I had the go
ahead from both the venues Salmon Leap CC
and Celbridge Paddlers CC. Again a huge
thank you to both the clubs committees and
members, it truly means so much to have your
support and help. The Junior 5K Series has
begun!!!! But hang on; one thing I knew that
would make the series a true success was an
event photographer. I am lucky enough to say
Eamon Cummins is a good friend and as we all
know one hell of a photographer! I have said so
many thanks to this man for his time, but again
Eamon, thank you for the amazing photos I
know the Juniors truly appreciate it as do the
parents.
Four years later the series has grown beyond
belief, I am truly grateful to everyone who
competes and supports it. To all the clubs that
attend the series and make the drive over the
years to both the venues. I hope the juniors
are having as much fun racing it as I do
running it. Some great athletes have done
this series and set down some great times
showing where our juniors need to be when
looking for medals at international races in the
coming years.
I look forward to what the future brings for this
series and how many more upcoming
international superstars will add their name to
the trophies.
For more information of the Junior 5K Series
with results and photos check out the Canoe
Sprint Facebook page.
An early start followed on Saturday after Friday night’s
celebrations. Freestyle and Long distance on the Shannon
River which is actually on UL campus. On Sunday we had
the finale of Boater-X being overlooked by King Johns
Castle in the City Centre. This was a special Intervarsity as
it is the first year to feature The Captain's Inflatable Race
where club Captain's from each college took to the river
only on inflatables for Charity. The money raised went to
Peter McVerry Trust, Rape Crisis Midwest, Clare’s Wish and
Limerick Suicide Watch - Some really worthy causes which
are all part of UL’S RAG week fundraising campaign. A
special mention is extended to our wonderful sponsors who
put forward over €4000 worth of prizes for the award
ceremony.
After an amazing event, UL were declared overall winners
regaining the legacy of 8 years of winning in a row that was
lost last year in UCD. ULKC would like to thank all and
everyone who volunteered their time to make the event run
so smoothly. And for all the colleges who came and made
the weekend so memorable. Finally a big shout out has to be
given to our Organizing Committee which was chaired by
Rhona Crowley.
Well done everyone! Roll on 2020!
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ROUND UP!
CANOE POLO
April brings more and more Canoe Polo players back out on the water getting ready for the summer
season, but we’ve been busy over the winter. Here’s a quick round up of what’s been happening and what
lies ahead in 2019 - busy times for Irish Canoe Polo!
JEGOU GOES CLEAR TO WIN
CANOE SLALOM IRISH
OPEN 2019
Dublin Canoe Polo League
This year’s league ran as a combined Winter/Spring league with 21
teams participating in three divisions. The league runs over 20
Saturday nights in the pool at Tallaght Sports complex. The league at
the end of April. Currently Cyclones look like certain Div. 1 winners, it’s
still all to play for in Div. 2 between Bad Company, Grade 5 and
Banshees. Div. 3 looks like the Kilcock Outlaws have it. Final night will
be on 27th April.
Munster Polo League
The Munster Polo League continues in the University of Limerick
50m pool on Saturday nights every month. Teams from all around
Ireland travel to compete in this full size indoor competition. After the
first two nights of the league, DIT remain unbeaten in Div 2 with
Kilcock unbeaten in div 3, but it’s all still to play for just a third of the
games played so far.
Irish College and University Polo Championships
Overload! Canoe Polo Camp
This year’s weekend camp for Junior Canoe Polo players promises to
be even bigger and better than last year’s event returning to Mullingar
on 17-18 August in Mullingar. The event is the national get-together
for junior canoe polo players and offers learning, workshops, master
classes and a lot of fun. Last year brought over 100 players and
volunteers and we expect this year to be even bigger. More details at
www.canoepolo.ie/overload
Belfast Junior International
The Belfast Junior International will take place from 31st July until
Sunday 4th August, promising to be a another world class event, with
50 teams expected from over 20 countries at the Lets Go Hydro
centre in Belfast.
The competition builds on the highly successful Junior International
held 2 years ago, organised by Belfast Kayak Academy. More details
at www.juniorinternationalpolo.com/
Liam Jegou proved the class of the field at the Irish Open
Slalom Canoeing Championships held at the Sluice weir
slalom course on the river Liffey in Lucan on Sunday
(March 24).
Competitors had two runs over the course with the fastest
time counting and time penalties for touching one of the 22
gates or missing one altogether.
Jegou, who is Ireland’s best hope of a qualifying place at
next year’s Tokyo Olympics, was a clear winner of the C1
class with a clean first run in 81.76 seconds. Finishing
second with a clean second run was Robert Hendrick in
82.97 seconds, while third was Eoin Moorhouse in 96.43
seconds, which included two penalty seconds for a touch.
Target race for Jegou this season is the World
Championships to be held in La Seu d’Urgell in Spain next
September. The top eleven nations at this competition will
win a place at next year’s Olympics. “I finished 24th at last
year’s World Championships and would need to finish in the
top 20 to be sure of a place,” he says.
Author: Lindie Naughton
The I.C.U.P. Championship is a competition run by Canoe Polo Ireland
that will be held at Knockabracken reservoir, Belfast. The competition
will take place on the 30th/31st of March. This is aimed towards
boosting the participation of college students within Canoe Polo.
Teams are expected from Ireland both North and south and we are
excited to get this started in 2019 and develop it as a major event on
the Canoe Polo Calendar going forward.
Outdoor Competitions
Other major competitions this year include
22nd June - Kilcock Junior Competition
30th June - Kilkenny Open
13/14 July - Irish Canoe Polo Club Championships
7th & 8th September - Irish Open International
Training is going well at his base in Pau, France, where he
has the company of a few other Irish paddlers as well as
many French squad members. “Thanks to sponsorship from
Mike Corcoran, who competed in C2 at the 1992 Olympics
for Ireland, I’ve been working with a new coach Nichola
Peschier since last November. He’ll be coming with me to
five events.”
Junior Development Days
The Junior Development programme is back with a full schedule of one
day events planned for Canoe Polo players aged 9-18 looking to
improve their skills. The first day took place in March and although
cold with further days on the following dates:
* Sunday April 7th, 2019 – Mullingar
* Sunday May 12th, 2019 – Kilcock
* Saturday June 1st, 2019 – Mullingar
* Sunday July 21st, 2019 – Kilcock
This year we want to put a particular emphasis on getting new players
into our sport and are encouraging younger players from aged 9
upwards to come along and avail of the development days. If you or
your club want to get involved email develop@canoepolo.ie
To see what other competitions and events are coming up, check out
www.canoepolo.ie/calendar
New Coach Appointment for Ireland U21 Squads
Finally best of luck to our Under 21 players and their newly appointed
coach Shane Kinsella who is working to prepare both teams for
international competitions this summer.
Ireland will send an U21 Women and U21 Men’s team to the Canoe Polo
European Championships in Portugal at the end of August. The
teams recently got together for a two-day training camp in Belfast and
have a busy schedule of training ahead. Best of luck!
Jegou, who finished second at the 2014 World Junior
Championships, just missed out on qualification for the
2016 Rio Olympics, when aged just 20. He then lost a year
to a hip injury before returning to competition for the
European Championships last year.
The Irish selection races for the World Championships will
take place at La Seu in April. “We’ll be spending two weeks
there. As well as that, I’ll compete in two of the five World
Cup races and also in the European U23 Championships in
Krakow in July.”
Winning the K1 men’s category with a best time of 79.87
seconds, including a single two second penalty, was
Samuel Curtis. Oisin Farrell was second with a time of 83.91
and Sean Ansell third in 84.70.
Best of the K1 women was Aisling Conlan with 103.20,
including four penalty points for two touches. Ciara Farrell
was second in 111.58 secs, despite hitting four gates, and
Maeve Martin third with 127.94 secs, including one two
second penalty. Martin also competed in the C1 class, the
only woman to do so, and clocked a time of 204.15 seconds.
Winning a closely fought junior K1 class was Adam Vaugh
who had a clean second run in 93.82 seconds. Just over a
second adrift for second was Ethan Dowling in 94.84
seconds, while third was Tom Morley in 96.18 seconds.
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IF YOU CANNOT SEE IT, YOU CAN NOT BE
20x20 CAMPAIGN
as to why I stayed in the sport. Using the Canoeing Ireland’s
‘Ladies days’ and ‘Blueway 10k’ events I was able to connect
with strong examples of women in the every discipline of the
sport, I was able to find my niche and meet an incredible group
of women who I still paddle with today. This is how I perceive
the 20x20 campaign within Canoeing Ireland.
For too long we focused on sport being about the boys! Now it
is about the women. The timing of this campaign was perfect,
we had successes with the Hockey team, rowing, athletics,
rugby, football and our very own Jenny Egan with her bronze at
the Canoe Sprint Worlds in August 2018.
The shift from status quo to trying to encourage and support
uptake and engagement from women. The battle is how to
make sports organisations understand that it’s the phraseology
of what they put out there as their image. It can show how
seriously they take their female counterparts to the sport.
It has a brilliant sentiment about being an all Ireland team, ie
north and south of ireland, can compete for the team but by
putting the phrase ‘One Team in Ireland - come on you boys in
green’, it could be perceived that the only important football
team in Ireland is the male Football team. Even the tagline
hammers home the male inclusion. It doesn’t mean that ‘Come
on you women in Green’ doesn’t exist or is any less valid but
the optics have a mascaline leaning and considering how
strong a female football team they have, ranked 33 in the
world. The male team is ranked 34 in the world.
The targets that Canoeing Ireland have chosen to drive are:
- 20% more media coverage of women in sport by the
end of 2020. In fact we have tried to do this with all our
disciplines. We are actively pushing out content about
all our sports.
‘It is not a disgrace to not reach for the stars, but it is a disgrace not to have
stars to reach for’ - Benjamin Elijah Mays
When the 20x20.ie campaign was launched in Ireland, Canoeing Ireland were
excited about the drive behind and potential of the campaign. This was
something Canoeing Ireland could use and harness to increase women in the
sport from the ground up. Anything that would bring a spotlight to our
hardworking under covered athletes and recreational paddlers was a plus. A
core aim of the 20x20 campaign is to ‘create a cultural shift in Ireland in our
perception of women in sport. By increasing visibility of women’s sport it will
become a greater part of who we are and what we follow’.
It could be said that when you put on your training gear, buoyancy aid and
helmet you become genderless and are seen as a sports person not a sports
man or woman, but when dissecting each of the disciplines it was about way
more than the outfit worn by the athlete; it is the atmosphere created when
participating, the training offered to stay current and confident, the opportunities
available to the athlete to succeed and the pathway laid out to guide
you through the system. It is true that these sentiments apply to all individuals
in the sport but this is amplified by women participating in the sport. Our
culture has a subliminal bias towards male sports and the only way to shift the
focus to a more equal footing is to actively and aggressively show content
that supports, highlights and demonstrates the validity of female sports
coverage, funding and categories.
Someone said to me that ‘Women need to feel part of the community to excel
whereas men need to feel they excel to feel part of the community’. Whereas
I couldn’t find any science to back up this statement, it did resonate with me
- 20% more female participation whether at player,
coach, referee or administration level by the end
of 2020.
- 20% more attendance at women’s games and events
by the end of 2020.
I think it is important to say that this is about ‘all of society
supporting all of society’. If sport is good for us, which we know
it to be, then the more sport we can showcase and connect
with, the better. If we all play, we all win. As the Federation of
Irish Sport said “20×20 is asking all sections of Irish society to
show their stripes and pledge one small action to increase the
visibility of women’s sport in Ireland because if she can’t see it,
she can’t be it”.
By all of us taking responsibility for our sport and doing
something, we can make a genuine shift across the country.
We can give more sport to a nation of sport lovers, as well as
the gift of sport to more women.
To show your support post your action (big or small) online to
social media and use #canoeingireland #loveirishpaddling
#ShowYourStripes
#ifshecantseeshecantbe and #20×20.v
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ALL THE THRILLS FROM THE INAUGURAL
CANOE IRELAND AWARDS
Club Volunteer of the Year 2018
Adrian Barber, for his 27 years’ worth of work with the Polo
Committee and Polo in general. (See our special interview
with Aido).
The volunteer of the year can be anyone within a club environment,
an ordinary member, a coach, an assistant, a parent, a
supporter. This award recognises volunteers for their
outstanding contributions to canoeing and kayaking
activities at Canoeing Ireland member clubs. The
contribution can be related to activities by the candidate
over a period of years or to a specific event or program during
a particular year.
Athlete of the Year 2018
Freestyle
Best Senior Male: David McClure
Best Senior Female: Aoife Hanrahan
Best Junior Male: Sean Noonan
Marathon
Best Senior Male: Barry Watkins
Best Senior Female: Jenny Egan
Best Junior Male: Ronan Foley
Paddlesurf
Best Senior Male: Mick Barry
Best Senior Female: Brigette Egan
Best Junior Male: Jamie O'Brein
Best Junior Female: Megan Gamble
Canoeing Ireland Inaugural Awards a Tremendous Success
Canoeing Ireland hosted their first Annual Awards event which saw over 180
members of our paddling community come together for an evening of
celebration and recognition of the Trojan work being carried out by club
volunteers and the successful results earned by our athletes in the 2018
competition season.
The Inaugural Awards Gala ran on the 26th January 2019 at the Lucan Spa
Hotel, Co. Dublin and saw members from all over the country get together for
a night of fun, laughter and friendship. The organisers were very pleased with
the turn out and the feedback from the members. Board member and key
organiser Aisling Conlan said “the event was a massive team effort and it paid
off. It shows what can be achieved with the right approach. We were very
grateful of the members that saw this event as a worthy way of saying thank
you to all those who work so hard for our sport during the year.”
The success of this event bodes well for next year’s awards night which will
take place on the 25th January at the same lovely venue, the Lucan Spa
Hotel. We hope our volunteers and athletes will want to celebrate their
successes with similar enthusiasm next year.
Canoeing Ireland would like to say a special thanks again to the CEO of Swim
Ireland and the President of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sarah Keane,
for delivering the keynote speech on the evening. The speech was fitting, and
reflected Canoeing Ireland’s current recovery stage and stabilisation period.
The awards recognised the amazing work done by clubs, volunteers and
athletes throughout the year of 2018.
Well done again to all the nominees and winners!
And the winners were…
Polo
Best Senior Male: Mark McCormack
Best Senior Female: Rachel Molloy
Best Junior Male: Zeke Wilson
Best Junior Female: Ciara Gurhy
Slalom
Best Senior Male: Liam Jegou
Best Senior Female: Aisling Conlan
Best Junior Male: Tom Morley
Best Junior Female: Maeve Martin
Sprint
Best Senior Male: Patrick O'Leary
Best Senior Male: Jenny Egan
Best Senior Female: Kate McCarthy
Best Junior Male: Ronan Foley
WWR
Best Wildwater Racing Paddler of the Year: Darragh Clarke
The athlete of the year award were based on results and
performances of 2018.
Community Impact Award
Kilkenny Aqua Canoe Club
This award was based on the give-back to the local community
from a Canoeing Ireland club
Best Event of 2018
Inter-Varsities ran by UCD Canoe Club
Best Team of 2018 (Perpetual Award)
Kilcock Demons, 2018
Dedicated to our team sports; this award recognises
outstanding achievements made by our teams. Club teams
and/or national teams can be included in the nominations.
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DEVELOPMENT SESSION AND EVENTS FOR 2019
IRISH FREESTYLE
22nd and 23rd March: Freestyle kayaking
Irish Freestyle Development Day
Tuam/Galway area
13th April: Whitewater Race League
Wacko Jacko
Avonmore (Jacksons)
May 2019: Whitewater Race League
Double Drop
Galway City
May 2019: Irish Freestyle
Curragower competition
Competition (National) Irish Freestyle
Limerick
1st June 2019: Irish Freestyle
Freestyle Summer Series - part 1
Clifden/Top Hole Galway
Competition (National)
13th July 2019: Irish Freestyle
Freestyle Summer Series - part 2
Clifden
Competition (National)
17th August 2019: Irish Freestyle
Freestyle Summer Series - part 3
Clifden Beach Party
Competition (National)
14th September 2019: Irish Freestyle
Freestyle Summer Series - part 4
Clifden
Competition (National)
19-20th October: Kayaking event
CranaFest
Buncrana
Competition (National)
June 2019: Irish Freestyle
Flatwater freestyle competition
Competition (National) Irish Freestyle
Cork
All photos courtesy of Eamon Cummins Dublin
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