NI Canoe Polo athletes to compete on world stage ahead of two major international championships in Belfast
Sporting stars from the Belfast Kayak Academy will compete in championship events across the world this summer as Belfast gears up to host its own series of international events later in the season.
Ten years since its formation, the Belfast Kayak Academy is preparing for a busy summer of competing with athletes chosen to represent the UK national team in contests as far as Milan and Saint-Omer, France.
Now home to over 100 junior canoe polo members, the Academy continues to bolster Northern Ireland’s reputation as a world-renowned destination for paddle sports and will host two major Canoe Polo contests at Knockbracken Reservoir this year: the Junior International Canoe Polo Championships in July and European Club Championships in September.
Athletes from the Academy, which competes as the Ulster Canoe Polo Club, will make up half of the eight strong GB Under 21 team for the 2022 ICF Canoe Polo World Championships in Saint-Omer this August. After winning the Under 18 British Championships five years in a row, Daragh McConvey, Caleb Bowden, Angus Boyle and Jake Searl were each chosen for the squad.
Also competing on the international stage this year is Fergal McConvey who joined the Academy aged 12 and will play in the GB Senior Men’s Team at the 2022 ECA Canoe Polo European Cup in Milan this May as part of his bid to also represent the UK national team on the world stage in France this Autumn.
Meanwhile, Bellaghy woman Sara Madden, who took home Silver at the 2019 European Championships, is vying for selection for the Senior Ladies Team at the World Games in Birmingham Alabama in July, the world’s second largest sporting event behind the Olympics.
As the local athletes showcase their talent abroad, over 60 teams will travel to Northern Ireland from Iran, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brazil and Europe in July as the Belfast Kayak Academy prepares to host its third Junior International Canoe Polo Championship.
Over 500 senior kayakers, both male and female, will then compete at Knockbracken Reservoir in September when the club plays host to the European Club Championships in the final showdown of the season.
Founder of the Belfast Kayak Academy Pete Boyle said: "We are thrilled to be gearing up for another busy season with both local competitions and representation at some of the world’s largest sporting events. The past decade has seen canoe polo grow in popularity to become one of our most played paddle sports here in Northern Ireland, and it is excellent to see our athletes selected to represent the UK national team in this year’s World Championships.”
"Our players have brought many medals home to Belfast in the last decade, yet we know that success during the season is only made possible by the hard work they each put in all year round. These are young people who have committed themselves to the sport and helped make the Belfast Kayak Academy what it is today. We are excited, in this our tenth anniversary year, to be hosting two major international championships and look forward to showcasing Northern Ireland to athletes from across the world.”