National Title for Kayaking Star
Tees kayaking star Lucy Gardener returned back to Teesside this week with a national title after competing at the National Paddleability Championships held at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepoint near Nottingham.
Lucy, a member of the Tees Active Sports Academy trains at Castlegate Quay Watersports Centre triumphed over her great rival Maggie Taylor, holder of the 1000m Women’s K1 sprint title no few than eleven times since 1993. Lucy has never beaten Maggie so to beat her in a national final was even more satisfying for this young paddler.
Lucy also had the added bonus of beating her personal best by 8 seconds in an extremely tense race, completing the 1000m course in a time of 6 minutes and 8 seconds.
A delighted Lucy said “Winning the title was fantastic but victory was made sweeter by beating Maggie who has dominated this event for such a long time. I really did not believe I could beat her over this distance.”
Lucy also added to her 1000m title by winning the 200m and picking up silver in the 500m. She then teamed up with Maggie and proceeded to take the doubles title in the 200m, 500m and 1000m races.
Lucy’s ecstatic mother Dot added “Lucy’s victory over Maggie has been a really psychological boost and we believe she can only get better. I would like to thank Geoff Wingrove of Siemens VAI who believed in Lucy and whose sponsorship assisted in the purchase of her Kirton Tor racing Kayak.”
The final word goes to Lucy who said “I would really like to thank Chris Walker one of the Kayaking instructors at Castlegate Quay for pushing me this far, he has been an inspiration and he deserves a huge amount of credit.”
Lucy is back training harder than ever as she aims to be number one at the 2012 London Olympics.
If you are interested in Watersports please contact Castlegate Quay Watersports Centre on (01642) 528689.