Kayaking Success

Congratulations to the 27 PLC students who represented the College at the recent Qld Schools Sprint Championships held at Coomera on 10th November.

Pacific paddlers received numerous state medals from the beginners TK1 and TK2 races and the Olympic K1 and K2 craft and placed narrowly behind Elanora State High School. The carnival finished early as a storm rolled in, which cancelled numerous medal prospects with the junior 200m yet to race.

It was a fantastic season of kayaking, winning the State Marathon School Championships earlier in the year combined with placing second at the State School Sprint Championships.

The most rewarding aspect of the season was seeing so many students participate and improve. We had several first-year paddlers do well in the TK1 events and numerous students made the transition from TK1 to K1 craft. The improvements in balance, technique and fitness were helped considerably due to the purchase of 12 new boats.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team and crew. Thank you to Mrs Leah Croke for managing the team, Kristen Stylianou, Sarah Casement, Brendan Casement and Connor Weule for helping with the equipment on and off the water, Cooper Schwab and Brendan Casement for paddling with the students and providing water safety, Brendan Casement for transporting the kayaks to both carnivals, Mark Rantel for coaching on the water and providing outstanding technical advice to our K1 students and team boats, and Mr Sam Irwin for doing an amazing job fixing and maintaining the equipment.

I finally would like to thank all the parents for always lending a hand and for driving their children to training and both events at the Gold Coast.

Mr Gary Graves, Head of Department – HPE, Kayaking Coordinator