WAIS-AIS kayaking athlete Alana Nicholls and WAIS coach Ramon Andersson have won major awards at the 2011 Australian Canoeing Annual Awards in Sydney.
Nicholls – who became Australia’s most successful ever female world cup competitor in 2011 – received the Australian Canoeing Athlete of the Year Award for her gold medal success in World Cup two, along with two fourth place finishes at the World Championships in Hungary last August.
Ramon Andersson – himself an Olympic medallist from the 1992 Barcelona Games – was awarded the Australian Canoeing Coach of the Year Award for his fantastic work with Nicholls, fellow Australian team members Jesse Phillips and Stephen Bird in the K2 200m and the development group at the Western Australian Institute of Sport.
Andersson was quick to praise Nicholls for her 2011 form, noting some significant achievements from her year long campaign.
“The award was a testament to the commitment Alana has shown since she returned to the sport after a 12 month break,” he said.
“Alana recorded some significant results this year, including breaking the 1 min 50 sec barrier for the K1 500m on a couple of occasions, winning the 200m and 500m at Nationals and the National selection regatta, collecting a full set of medals during the World Cups and capping the season with a fourth and fifth at World Champs, as well as a win at the Olympic Test event,” Andersson said.
Australian Canoeing CEO, Greg Doyle, said that this year has been very successful for canoeing in Australia and that the quality of the nominees and winners reflected that.
“We were all so proud of the achievement of our athlete’s this year,” Mr Doyle said.
“With the Olympics and multiple World Championships next year, we are really looking forward to seeing our paddlers fulfil their own potential.”
Talking of the Canoeists of the Year, Doyle said that the achievements of Nicholls was a real stand out.
“For Alana to come back after a year away from the sport and to win World Cup medals and finish fourth at the Worlds is a phenomenal achievement,” he said.
-with AustralianCanoeing
