2008/09 Season Review
The 2008/09 was the most successful season ever for St George Kayak Club (SGKC). It was an extremely exciting year for all athletes, coaches and supporters and one which everyone should be proud of. We would like to thank the Rowing Club, and especially Tony, for their support throughout the year.
The success of our club members throughout the 2008/09 domestic season led to the largest representation of Australian Junior, U23 and Senior Team members SGKC has ever had. First up was the highlight of the 2008/09 season with club member Tony Schumacher selected to represent Australia at the Beijing Olympic Games in the K41000m. Congratulations to Tony and his team mates who made the K4 1000m final - a tremendous effort all round.
Congratulations also go to Luke and Jake Michael who were selected to represent Australia at the World Cup Events in Europe in the K2 500m event. Luke and Jake have shown enormous improvement in their K2 paddling and were rewarding accordingly with selection in the Australian Senior team.
U23 paddlers Julia Tyrell, Dean Blanche and Mark Farugia made a massive advance towards the 2012 Olympics with terrific results throughout the year. All three were selected on the U23 Australian Team, which toured Europe in June this year. Julia, Dean and Mark all preformed extremely well overseas with - Julia picking up some jewellery to bring home.
Another great achievement for the SGKC was the selection of “Coach” Jimmy Walker to coach the U23 Australian squad. Jim proved to be instrumental to the success of the team, which brought home a bag of medals against some very strong nations.
Outside of the sprint racing events, SGKC had two members flying the flag in Marathon events. Paul Smith and Stew O’ Regan both raced well throughout the year and finished on the podium on several occasions.
The dedication and ability of all paddlers, as well as the ongoing support of head coach Jim Walker, showed why St George Kayak Club is an enormous threat to the major clubs around the country.
The coming season has the potential to be an even more successful year with young guns like Reece Holland charging though the cold mornings at the Cooks. Another solid base of winter training is well underway, under the watchful eye of Jim Walker, and there is no doubt the squad will be ready to fire.
We look forward to an exciting 2009/10 season.
See you on the water…
Kelly Jury
Club Secretary
