Photo courtesy of Paddle Australia
THE Western Sydney Whitewater Club celebrated with 6 separate awards on Sunday night, at the Paddle Australia Annual Awards Night on the Gold Coast (QLD).
Paddle Australia celebrated 75 years on the night, with members and supporters from across the entire paddling community coming together for the occasion.
The awards celebrated the great achievements of Australia’s athletes across eight disciplines, as well as acknowledging the incredible contributions across volunteering, coaching, administrations and events.
Paddle Australia President Andrew Trim said: “It’s a wonderful community that comes together, from such a broad background, from so many different areas and to be able to get everyone in one room, also celebrating our 75th anniversary as well as our success as a sport.
“Our Paris Olympic and Paralympic team… I’m not just proud of them for the results but for the way they behave, for the way they carry themselves and for the role models they are. I think we set a wonderful example for all high performance sports.”
Australia’s elite paddlers achieved their best ever Olympic & Paralympic Games campaign in Paris this year, with an impressive four gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
Paris Olympic gold medallist Jessica Fox OAM took home the coveted ‘Paddler of the Year – Overall’ crown, after also winning Paddler of the Year – Canoe Slalom.
Jess not only delivered an impressive two gold medals in the women’s C1 and K1 in Paris to make Olympic history, she also carried the pride of the nation as the flag bearer for Australia at the opening ceremony. But it wasn’t just her Olympic medals that made her a worthy recipient, she broke records before even arriving at the Paris Games, becoming the first athlete to win 50 ICF World Cup gold medals and the first athlete to win three gold medals at a single World Cup event.
Overall Paddler of the Year – Jessica Fox OAM; Paddler of the Year (Canoe Slalom) – Jess Fox OAM; Paddler of the Year (Junior / Canoe Slalom) – Codie Davidson; Coach of the Year – Myriam Fox; Club Coach of the Year – Emmie Barratt; Award of Merit – Noemie Fox (Canoe Slalom)
