I thought it was about time that we updated the website! 2012 was another canoeing filled year for all the tigers, with lots of promotions and improvements in polo and slalom, plus an introduction to sprint and WWR for some of the members. At the Christmas party at the end of the year these achievements were summed up with the Tigers awards ceremony, hosted once again by head coach Nicky Cresser, with the prestigious awards presented to the winners.  And the winners were:

Junior Outstanding Achievement: Connor Turner
(For strong performances in WWR and sprint canoeing; briskly moving up the rankings in slalom, securing a place on the national programme for slalom; all whilst overcoming an injury)

Senior Outstanding Achievement: Chaz Cheung
(Represented GB at canoe polo senior level winning a Worlds silver medal and assisted the B-team to promotion to National League Division 2)

Most Improved Paddler (Simon Fletcher Memorial Shield): Ben Teasdale
(For massively improved confidence in a boat, competency in all canoeing disciplines (WWR, sprint, sea kayaking, polo, and slalom) and generally being much faster in everything!)

Volunteer Contribution: The Browns

Clean Runs: Calum Cresser

Plus for dubious sporting achievements there were numerous of the coveted ‘Broken Paddle’ awards presented!

The year ahead looks to be as busy as ever, with lots of events already planned. Dates for your diaries for Tiger organised events include (for slalom events check canoeslalom.co.uk for more details):

16th to 18th February – Grandtully winter training weekend (contact Darren Cresser for more information)
16th March – Div 4 short course pool slalom, Richmond swimming pool
29th March – Simon Fletcher Memorial Race and Div 4 short course slalom, Tees Watersports Centre
25th and 26th May – Abbey Rapids Div 2/3/4 slalom double
31st August and 1st September – Abbey Rapids Div 1/2 slalom
21st and 22nd September - Teesside Prem, Div 1/2 slalom

There will be lots of other events across the country that club members will be attending (slalom, polo and most likely some WWR and sprint as well) so check the forum out to see who is going where if you fancy coming along where there will be moral support!

Happy paddling!

There was a great turnout from the Tigers, as well as those from Hexham and Cleveland clubs, for the  inter-regional slalom championships on 13th May at Nottingham.  Best results for the North East in the main categories were Darren Cresser in the K1, finishing 14th, with Wendy Morris finishing 8th in the women’s K1 and Zac Allin 8th in the juniors. All paddlers put up a good show on a course which had a few key moves where valuable time (or 50s!) could be lost.

Special mention should be made of the gutsy paddlers who stepped up to the mark to ensure we had a C2 boat in the race and a full senior and women’s team.  First of all it was fantastic to see the youngest Tiger Jake Brown show his teeth and overcome his fear as he went back around and through the gate in the looping pool … and I don’t think his Dad was the only one with tears in his eyes!  I hope the new C2 pairing of Bethan Kelly and Brandon Watson were also smiling as they stayed upright all the way – which is more than Zak Franklin and his partner did!  Maeve Woodhouse from Hexham was also facing her first time at HPP and with support and encouragement from all, also managed to get down (first run anyway!) and do really well to get us a time in what wasn’t an easy course for a Div 2 paddler!

Final results for the region are being put togther by John Sturgess and will be put up as soon as we have them….it was the taking part that counts…..(though I hope we beat the southerners!) .

Linda Allin

We thought it would be good to share all the events over the summer that we are attending as a club, there will be others that individuals will go to, but these are the key ones that we are hoping for a good Tigers presence at! 

If you are interested then please contact the named representative or look on www.canoeslalom.co.uk for slalom races and www.canoepolo.org.uk for polo tournaments.

Read on to get the dates for your diaries!

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Firstly thank you to everyone who has played in the C-team this year, we came 8th overall  which isn’t too bad for our first season playing together in Div. 3. We have had a mixed year this year with notable victories against Team Scotia who only lost 3 matches all year (the other 2 being to the B team) and came second overall, as well as Liverpool (the only team the B team couldn’t beat!) who came 4th overall.  We have also had some notable losses to people we really should be beating… So an inconsistent year this year but all in all pretty good when you consider we had a different team at pretty much every tournament!

We were looking good to come about half way up the table until the last tournament so let’s make it our aim for next year to see it through to the end of the season!

Phil D, team captain

With the B-team’s season concluding a week earlier, it was the A-team’s turn to show off the developments that have been going on at Tees Tigers over the last few years… Read more

Following a disappointing National League season last year, a new look team consisting of Chaz Cheung (Captain) and Andy Rhu from last year and new additions of James Tonks and Mark Ledger both from the C team and transfers of Andrew Hood and Ross Martin from Team Scotia and Morpeth respectively, Tees Tigers B were determined to get back up into Div 2 North.

Read on to find out more about their season.

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With the last date of the Division 1 section of local league being tied up on the Saturday a few of us thought that there wouldn’t be anything better to do of a Sunday than have an early morning crash around in Tynemouth pool, followed by a hearty breakfast and a bit of open boating. Read more

North East Local League 2012 ran by Tees Tigers Canoe Club was a storming success again this year. After a difficult start, having to find a new venue and rearrange the format, things ran smoothly. The last two tournaments saw the league split into two, a ‘Division 1’ tournament and a ‘Division 2’ tournament. The ‘Division 1’ tournament crowned Tees Tigers B team champions after beating all other teams with strong performances leading on points and with a healthy goal difference. The local league Tees Tigers B team consisted of Chaz Cheung, Matt Fletcher, Andy Rhucroft, Scott Cresswell, Mark Ledger, James Tonks (photo below minus captain Chaz Cheung).

The final league table is as follows:

1- Tees Tigers B
2- Tees Tigers A
3- Tynemouth Canoe Club
4- Durham University A
5- Morpeth Paddlesport Club
6- Newcastle Old Boys
7- Newcastle University A
8- Durham University B
9- Hexham Canoe Club
10- Newcastle University B

(Editor’s note) Thanks to everyone who played, reffed, helped set up, brought equipment along, locked up and dealt with the pool alarm system!  And special thanks to Gail for organising the league and all it’s complications!

This fantastic traditional event has run since the early 1960s with only one cancellation on record - last year! With contrasting mild temperatures and plenty of glacial-melt this year’s event was well supported as usual by those wanting to burn off that extra helping of christmas pud and choccies from the previous day.
 
A wide variety of craft were spread across the 60 starters with particularly strong contingents from Tees Tigers and Stockton and Thornaby clubs. A new Hare and Hounds format had the touring class start 8 minutes ahead of the racers and this will only need to be tweaked slightly for next year as it was quite late in the race that the leading touring class paddler was overhauled. Full credit then to George Marley of Sunderland who in the SuperVet category held off his younger and dare I say it ‘more race-conditioned’ competitors to take the touring class in 40.50. As I overtook him he was asking for his margin of lead as he was too in the zone / inflexible to look over his shoulder at those behind him.
 
Winner overall by a narrow margin was Nicky Cresser of Tees Tigers in 38.38 who had a great but “controlled” dual with Olly Wickham of Sunderland all the way down the course. Darren Cresser romped home to the third podium place showing that parenthood hasn’t slowed him too much. Sandra Hyslop of Durham Uni did a great job keeping the men ahead within sight for the whole race to be first lady home in 39.59. Other notable performances were the Williamson duo who stroked a precise race as first Canadian double in 46.18, Andrew Martin as first junior closely followed by the U14 Kris Wilko. Bethan Kelly showed strong technique to be the leading junior girl. Credit also to Connor Turner and Calum Cresser who produced strong performances in their first Wildwater Racing boat events.  (Click below to see the full results)
 
All were able to claim their finishers T-shirts and snacks provided courtesy of the event sponsor Rapid 9 signs. The Wickham family have been long supporters of this event so thanks to them we have been able to present to Saint Cuthbert’s Hospice in Durham a cheque for £262.

So thanks for coming and bring along your friends to next year’s race.

Michael Mason Read more

Christmas may well be coming and the goose may be getting fat, so thought we could do with testing what progress we are making!  Read more