Foundation

VOTE > D.O.B: 26.09.1994
Sport: Canoe Slalom (C1)
Trains at: Manchester Canoe Club
SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS: It's been just under 3 years since I got in a boat, 2 years since I started competing.
1st in National Division 1 in C1.
14th in National Division 1 in K1 after short season with a major knee injury I sustained while riding my bike to training.
Since Summer 2011, C1 has become my main class.
1 Month after starting C1 as a side from K1, I was accepted onto Canoe England Summer Training Squad.
Invited to train on L'Argentiere and Bourg National and International Whitewater courses in France
October 2011 - Selected to train on the Canoe England Winter Development Program which has just finished.
4th March 2012 - First Division 1 race of this season, won 1st place C1M against an ex-international paddler. My time compared to being in the top 3 in the K1M category and I beat Premier Division C1 paddlers.
I have been selected twice to paddle for Manchester in interclub races.
March 2011 - Chosen to paddle K1 for England in the Pan Celtic Cup, held in Grandtully, Scotland.
February 2012 - Chosen to paddle C1 for England in the Pan Celtic Cup, held in Grandtully, Scotland.

This year I aim to get on the GB Junior squad, with the 3 selection races all in this current month (March).

If I do not achieve this, I will begin training immediately for U23 Selection for the GB Team, which I an eligible for next year. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

I am extremely committed to my sport, I train every night of the week but Friday (my rest day) and unless there is a race or training, I occasionally have Sundays off.
At Bourg, I got pinned on a rock. This is a very dangerous position to be in, if the boat slips under the water the person can become unable to get out the boat, thrown back against the rock by the sheer force of the water and as a result of this, drown. It happened in Grandtully the second year I was there. Fortunately I managed to hold myself up on the rock for what seemed like a lifetime, but was only probably about 10 minutes, and one of my coaches swum across the potential 40 cumecs (cubic metres/second) flow to pull me off. Thankfully when I got stuck on the rock, the flow was only at 27 cumecs, otherwise it could have been a different story.
After being pulled off the rock, I carried on with the course, and have continued to train ever harder ever since, showing my determination.
I am accredited as the fastest improving paddler by many of my coaches showing even more rapid progression this Winter. The group of paddlers I compete against at the moment have several years experience on me.
With the right help and support I will compete next year at the U23 selection race, with the hope of paddling on the GB Team then too. By 2016 I want to be a serious contender in the Olympic selection, and with my rate of progress I aspire to be Olympic Champion by 2020.
I am focussed, disciplined and determined to be the best at my sport, and I am already doing so by proving that I can compete against and beat my peers, most of whom have had at least 4 years more experience than me.
I am studying Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths in my first year of A-levels at school. Last year I completed 10 GCSEs, achieving 6 A*s and 4 As, showing that I can balance my canoeing aspirations and heavy training regime with schoolwork.
I hope to go to Nottingham University in two years time, where I will be able to fit in 2 sessions on whitewater every paddling day around my studying.

Having had such a short time in the sport to get so far, now I have found my feet, I aspire to reach the very top and compete at international level in future olympics.
I currently have had no previous sponsorship and so would gain tremendous amounts from this scheme. I am 17 and everything so far has been self-funded.

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