2016 News

European Junior WWR Championships

31/07/16 - Congratulations to Aaron Kirk and Jack Perchard on gaining 8th place at the European Junior Wild Water Racing championships in Austria last week. Aaron and Jack were canoeing in the C2 sprint class, and made the finals after winning their heat. An excellent result given that they only started paddling together earlier this year.

A Mere 17 Prizes!

Photos here.

01/06/16 - OK, I may have lost count, but it was certainly a record for the Club; and what a wonderful weekend! On the 28th and 29th of May 26 paddling Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and adults attended the Orton Mere canoe slalom competition in Peterborough.

Most of us travelled to the site on the Friday, set up camp beside the river and had a good practice session on the course.

After a slightly colder night than expected, we embarked upon the first day's competition. The three May training sessions at Matlock certainly paid off. We were up against some of the top canoe slalom clubs in the country, including Manchester, Holme Pierrepont and Lee Valley, and often came out on top!


In the Women's kayak class, 9 year-old Edie was our fastest competitor, gaining 2nd place, and promotion to Division 3; and Lydia was awarded the under 12 prize. In the Men's kayak class, our top placed paddler was Ethan, who came 3rd, and missed out on promotion by one place. Ben was awarded the under 14 prize, and Jacob the under 10 prize. In the C2 class Aaron and Dan paired up, knelt down, and won the Division 4 competition. In Division 3, Isaac came 5th in K1, achieving a set of promotion-qualifying points. Callum was 12th in the same class, and Daniel 17th (out of 23). In the Canadian Canoe class, Elliott won the Division 3 competition by nearly 30 seconds - very impressive! And last, but not least, Aaron, who paddles kayak in Division 1, showed everybody how it should be done, and won the Officials event with the fastest time of the day.

After the presentation ceremony, we had dinner (thanks to the Kellys). Pudding had to wait - we needed to go paddling again. A slightly warmer night, and some were thankful for the sound of traffic from the nearby dual carriageway, which drowned out any noise from the accomplished snorers amongst us.

And on to the second day - which was even more successful than the first. Callum was looking for a fifth good set of points in order to gain promotion to Division 2. And after a disappointing day on the Saturday, success came on the Sunday with a 7th place - well deserved Callum! In the same class, Isaac came 5th for the second day in a row, and is now well on his way to Division 2. In the equivalent Women's event, Kerry put in a marvellous performance to achieve her best result yet, and Edie was awarded the under 10 prize.

In Division 4, Zara won the Women's K1 and was promoted, with Molly taking 2nd place from Lydia - so that's a clean sweep for Break Out Canoe Club! And very impressively, mum Julia Fletcher stepped forward to compete, in order to ensure that the class was quorate. She went for all of the gates, and got most of them (apparently still suffering two days later though)!

Ethan bettered his Saturday achievement by one place to win the Men's K1 class, and gain promotion to Division 3. Josh was awarded the under 14 prize, and Frank the under 10 prize.

Elliott once again won the Division 3 C1 class; this time by only 10 seconds. What happened Elliott?! He's certainly not going to be in Division 3 for long. And Aaron once again showed the way in the officials class, putting down the fastest time of the day, and beating C2 partner Jack by a whisker (much to Jack's annoyance).

All of our young paddlers without exception should be very proud of themselves - all finished the weekend able to confidently cross the chute of whitewater.

Thanks to all those who helped to make this such a successful weekend - leaders, parents and coaches. A first-rate team effort. Thanks to Emma Kelly, Richard Kelly and Kate Martin for organising the camping, and thanks to Andy Massey, Katherine Stoner, Aaron Kirk and Jack Perchard for providing safety cover. Special thanks in particular to Mark Stoner and Faith Wilkinson who spent many hours in their boats keeping an eye on, and providing positive support to our Scouts. And finally thanks to the very supportive team of parents who joined us across the weekend. Here's looking forward to the next one!

Aaron and Jack Qualify for GB Squad

22/04/16 - Congratulations to Aaron and Jack upon their selection to the Junior GB Wildwater Racing squad following the selection event at Grandtully last weekend. They will now be competing at the European Championships in Austria in June.

Patrick Marriott Under 23 GB Reserve in Slalom

16/04/16 - Congratulations to Patrick upon his selection to the GB team for 2016 in Canoe Slalom C1 class.

Nene Beginners' Slalom Competition

10/04/16 - An enjoyable day spent at the Nene White Water Centre, introducing some of our beginners to the sport of canoe slalom.

10th Anniversary Celebrations

29/01/16 - On 29th January we celebrated our 10th anniversary with presentations and a buffet at Cosby Golf Club. Around 60 people came along, and enjoyed a fun-filled evening packed with videos, awards and cake!

Richard Kelly introduced the evening, and John Stoner described some of the high points of our first 10 years. Jo Gutteridge said a few words about our fundraising successes, and Jamie Christie delivered a presentation on wild water racing.

Jamie also interviewed one of our international paddlers, Patrick Marriott. The last of the talks, delivered by John, focussed on the Club's achievements over the last year, and culminated in the presentation of the annual awards.



The very impressive birthday cake was then cut and distributed, before a few photographs were taken and the quiz (organised by Georgina) commenced.

Thanks to Caroline Corley, from the County Water Activities team, who presented the awards, and to everybody who helped to make the evening such a success. Here's to the next ten years!

The prizes for performances in 2015 were awarded as follows:

Perpetual Trophies

  • Patrick Marriott - Canoe Slalom: Highest Ranked Junior Paddler
  • Elliott Massey - Most Improved Junior Paddler

Annual Awards

  • Jack Perchard - Canoe Slalom: Highest Ranked Division 1 Male
  • Dan Kelly - Canoe Slalom: Highest Ranked Newcomer
  • Jacob Willetts - Canoe Slalom: Best Placed Division 4 Male
  • Zara Montgomery - Canoe Slalom: Best Placed Division 4 Female
  • Isaac Mackley - Canoe Slalom : Highest Ranked Division 3 Male
  • Emma Christie - Canoe Slalom: Highest Ranked Division 3 Female
  • Jacob Hill - Youngest Male Competitor
  • Evie Lenehan - Youngest PaddlePower Discover Candidate
  • Will Simpson - Wild Water Racing: Highest Ranked K1 Male
  • Kerry Christie - Wild Water Racing: Highest Ranked K1 Female
  • Patrick Marriott - In Recognition of Selection to Senior GB WWR Racing Team C2
  • Jack Perchard - In Recognition of Selection to Senior GB WWR Racing Team C2