Category: Racing

Addlestone Canoe Club (ACC) is the latest club to make strides in expanding opportunities for paddlers of all abilities.

Inspired after attending a recent paracanoe education day, hosted by Paddle UK, the club has witnessed a surge of interest in the sport.

ACC has been welcoming paddlers into the club for their first experiences of the water, ranging from children with disabilities to paddlers with aspirations of reaching the Paralympics.

“The training has already paid dividends,” Caroline Pemble, Chair of Addlestone Canoe Club said.

“The club currently has three paracanoe athletes, each with unique stories and aspirations.

“One athlete has a dream of competing at the Paralympics and is now training with us at Addlestone, even braving the coldest days of the year to pursue his goals.

“We also have two young lads now coming down to the club.

“They’ve been getting involved in our club session, taking part in a bit of race training and they absolutely love it.

“Their families have even started getting involved in the sport.”

The paracanoe education day, provided club’s coaches and volunteers with invaluable insights into the world of paracanoe.

Led by Paddle UK coaches Attila Herbent and Gary Quittenton, as well as community members such as Julie Gray, Julia Lawley and Nick Adnitt, the day covered a wide range of topics, including classification, boat adaptations, safety considerations, and practical handling techniques.

The event also featured inspiring talks from programme athletes, who shared their personal journeys and experiences with paracanoe.

Caroline continued: “The education day gave us more confidence that what we were doing was okay.

“I think it also helped us to know who else we can tap into to get that knowledge and learning to adapt the boats and things like that.”

Addlestone Canoe Club’s dedication to inclusivity extends beyond providing coaching and equipment. The club strives to create a welcoming and supportive community for all its members.

They engage in open communication with potential athletes, ensuring that their individual needs and concerns are addressed.

“We work closely with individuals to assess their needs and ensure safe and enjoyable paddling experiences.”

Looking ahead, Addlestone Canoe Club is eager to expand its paracanoe programme and encourage more people with impairments to take up the sport.

“We would say give it a go,” said Caroline.

“We’re happy to try and help anyone fulfill their dreams and get them on the water.”

Are you local to Addlestone and interested in getting involved in the sport? 

Contact the club here to arrange an evening at the club

Congratulations to Wendy Dodson for winning the ‘Sports Volunteer of the Year’ award.

Wendy is the head racing coach at Addlestone Canoe Club (ACC) and has spent the past 50 years dedicated to the sport, firstly as an individual athlete and in later years as a passionate coach. Wendy, along with her husband Andy, joined the club in the mid 1990’s and together founded the ‘Racing’ section and developed it into the successful program that it is today.

Wendy has been a World Class canoeist competing in numerous international events for Great Britain, including the Sprint World Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1977 and winning the Marathon World Cup in Gudina, Denmark, 1983. She was also a formidable runner, top placing in the Nottingham Marathon in the early 1980s. Over the years Wendy’s passion for the sport has not waned and she still competes in National canoe marathon events as a veteran and runs with her friends weekly.

Wendy’s dedication to the sport has impacted many people’s lives. As the head race coach within the club, for over 25 years, everyone who races for ACC begins with Wendy’s coaching. From the many juniors that have been involved with the club over the years, six junior racers have gone on to represent Great Britain at International events (Sprint & Marathon) and a few have been chosen for the National Talent Program. As a small club, we have over-indexed in GB team representation verses club size, when compared with larger ‘Racing specific’ clubs. Additionally, Wendy has coached three crews (six people) in preparation for the gruelling Devizes-Westminster 125 mile endurance race.

During a recent audit of volunteer hours given by members, Wendy stood out from all others, with a mighty 467 hours per year or 9 hours per week, which she dedicates to our club, the community and the sport. Within the ACC, this includes coaching, supporting members at races, club maintenance, environmental clear-ups, committee meetings, safeguarding and first aid. Alongside her commitments to ACC, Wendy is on the British Canoeing National Sprint Regatta Committee and gives 4 weekends per year to running National regatta events plus sixteen hours at the planning meetings associated with these events.

In addition to her coaching work, Wendy is the club welfare officer, a critical role, with key responsibilities such as ensuring all adults working with vulnerable people have up to date DBS checks in place. She is an active member of the club committee and helps to organise our ‘come and try it’ days run by ACC, which encourages ‘newbies’ in the local community to try out many different forms of paddle sport, hopefully joining us as new members to enjoy the sport all year round. She also coordinates the purchase and distribution of club racing kit and branded casual clothing.

Addlestone Canoe Club is highly regarded in the canoeing community and Wendy was instrumental in the club attaining the British Canoeing award of ‘Club Mark; by leading the team writing our policies and procedures. The attainment of ‘Club Mark’ status was key to unlocking the potential of the club, enabling us to acquire funding to provide more opportunities for paddle sport in the community. Following on from this, Wendy then built the ‘development & talent pathways’ for Junior racers, which guides individuals and coaches through the stages of development from beginner to elite athlete. Addlestone Canoe Club has now been awarded ‘Talent Club’ status from British Canoeing.

Through her work in the club and the Canoeing community, Wendy has been a driving force behind bringing visibility of the sport to as many people as possible in the wider Runnymede borough. Wendy was instrumental in ACC (jointly) hosting the National Hasler Final
British Marathon Racing in 2022. This took place in Runnymede and lead to the club getting recognition from the public and both local and county councillors.

Wendy’s passion for all aspects of the sport, meant that she also championed for a clean and safe environment and initiated river clean up days from ACC. These involve general litter picking and the removal of non-native invasive plant species such as floating pennywort from the local waterways. These days are fun, educational and also benefit the local community by maintaining a valuable local amenity, the Wey Navigation. Such is the popularity of these events; they have been expanded from being run in the school holidays for junior club members, to hosting locally based global companies such as Sky TV for their staff activity volunteer events. These days have been recognised by British Canoeing who presented ACC with the ‘Clear Access, Clear Waters’ award.