Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge Sea Cadets are celebrating after a golden weekend of success.
Ordinary Cadet Ella from Burnham-On-Sea & Highbridge’s Sea Cadet Unit represented the whole of the South West Area Sea Cadets at the organisation’s National Regatta at London’s ExCel Centre.
She, and her paddling partner Leading Cadet Sam from Bridgwater Sea Cadets, stormed home with a well-deserved victory in the prestigious Tandem Canoe Cross-Stream competition which tests competitors’ canoe handling skills around a short course, losing points for missed or touched gates.
The pair of talented cadets blazed through the first round in a time of 1 minute 26.3 seconds to take the lead.
They extended their grip on the gold medal after going even faster in windier conditions in round two.
Ella’s paddlesports coach, Chief Petty Officer Joanne Sidwell, said: “Ella and Sam’s amazing times come from some incredibly hard work over the last few months both in and out of the boat to put in that performance, training in their own time to understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses and apply a keen tactical brain to the course on the day.”
“Well done…something to make it worth all the hard work!”
The cadets’ first round paddle wasn’t without its challenges, however, as one of the event’s safety kayakers was caught not paying attention and got in the team’s way!
Since this isn’t what a safety kayaker is supposed to do, the pair got another attempt.
Medals for the worthy winners were presented by the Captain of the Sea Cadets, Captain Phil Russell Royal Navy.
With the further gold medal success of Leading Cadet Sam and team-mate Able Cadet Adriana from Bridgwater Sea Cadets in the Male and Female Solo Canoe Cross Stream events, the South West Area also walked away with the overall Cross Stream competition trophy.
“This year’s event is the last that Leading Cadet Sam can enter as he turns 18 in early 2020 and will no longer be eligible to compete so there’s an empty seat up for grabs when Ella goes to defend her title next year.”
