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We are a competitive sports club and have a high reputation for
providing members for the British Marathon, Sprint and Olympic teams.
At the same time we are known for our work with children and have
trained some very successful Junior World Champions.
Elmbridge has sent paddlers and coaches to the Olympic Games since
the club began, in fact, Tim Brabants, Gold medal winner in Beijing, started his canoeing career as a ten-year-old at Elmbridge.
Elmbridge’s real strength is producing marathon canoeists.
Internationally, Ivan Lawler is Britain’s most successful
canoeist ever, having won his sixth World Championship title in
Gyor in Hungary in 1999. He was subsequently made an OBE in the
New Year’s Honours list in 1999. At the same championships
Anna Hemmings won the women's K1 title, the first British woman
to do so. Anna has since won more K1 titles and a K2 title with
Helen Gilby, an Elmbridge team mate. Anna was honoured in the 2009 New Year's Honours list.
Ben Brown was Junior World
Champion in 2003, Louisa Sawers in 2006 (K1 and K2) and Edward Rutherford 2008 (K1 and K2).
Nationally, despite elite performers often being out of the country
on National Squad duty, the club is equally successful. The years
2000 and 2001 were the club’s most successful, when all three national
club trophies were won - the Spanish House, for the top club at the
National Marathon Championships, the Hasler Trophy for the winner
of the national Hasler event and the sprint club trophy, the MacGregor
Paddle.
The club has an enviable record in the Hasler trophy final, which relies on a regular commitment from members of all sections of the club.
It follows, therefore, that racing is an important feature of the
club and we encourage all members to participate in as many different
events as possible.
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