OUR PERFORMANCE AND TALENT PATHWAYS
The Paddle Cymru Performance and Talent Programmes are designed to support talented athletes, coaches and clubs to be the best they can be and ultimately leave all those who pass through the programme as confident and more rounded individuals.
Paddle Cymru receives funding from Sport Wales to develop athletes ready to represent Wales and GB at the Olympic Games. In doing this, we provide tailored support to Welsh athletes in the Olympic disciplines of Slalom and Sprint and work within a broader GB pathway.
About the Performance and Talent Pathway..
Our main goal is to prepare Welsh athletes for success at the British Team Selections at Junior and U23 level. In doing this, we take young paddlers with very little experience through a pathway which provides structured training and competition experience up to the level where they can succeed at the Selections. Therefore, the Pathway is structured with age-related criteria, progressively becoming more demanding as the paddler’s age increases. This training structure runs side by side with an annual competition plan, support from Canoe Wales coaches, and a sport science programme developed by professionals in physiology, sport psychology, strength & conditioning and other disciplines.
Interested to know more..
If you are interested in starting Slalom or Sprint, please contact the Talent Pathway Officer for your region and they will be able to help point you in the right direction with details on local clubs and opportunities for training.
North: jonathan.davies@paddlecymru.org.uk
West: gareth.bryant@paddlecymru.org.uk
South: james.pigdon@paddlecymru.org.uk
If you would like to know more Information about the some of the Competitive Paddlesports that take place in Wales please visit the competition section.
Non- Olympic Paddlesport Disciplines
As the funding allocated to the programmes comes directly from Sport Wales lottery money and is ring fenced towards Olympic pathways, Paddle Cymru doesn't currently run any programmes for non-Olympic performance disciplines. However, where possible, Paddle Cymru supports athletes and activity focused at these disciplines, particularly with sport science. If you have an where you would like support (such as Strength and conditioning), please send any requests to Nick Fowler (Head Coach and Performance manager)
nick.fowler@paddlecymru.org.uk and we will do what we can to support.
