Paddle UK has today announced the nominations for Paracanoe and Canoe Sprint World Class Programmes for the 2026 season (1 Nov 2025 to 31 October 2026 unless stated).
Subject to appeal, 13 athletes have been nominated to the World Class programme in Paracanoe and 8 athletes in Canoe Sprint for the upcoming 2026 season.
A wider group of athletes will once again be supported through the Para-Academy, Sprint Performance Academy and High Performance Community to support their development. Further details of this will be published on Monday, 22 September, along with the GB Junior Training Squad.
Ekaitz Saies, Paddle UK’s Performance Director for Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe, said: “There has been a lot of changes within the programme throughout this season, but what hasn’t changed is the commitment to support our athletes both on and off the water to achieve their potential.
“We saw some exceptional racing and promising performances across the board at the World Championships this year, from our cohort of athletes.
“As we settle into the new season and cycle, we will all continue to work hard to achieve our goals, not just at Holme Pierrepont but within the canoe sprint and paracanoe community.
“Congratulations to those who have been nominated to the World Class Programme as we move into the 2026 season”.
Subject to appeal, the athletes who are nominated to UK Sport for 2026 World Class Programme places are:
Paracanoe
Laura Sugar MBE
Emma Wiggs MBE
Charlotte Henshaw MBE
Jack Eyers (Poole)
Dave Phillipson
Hope Gordon (Scottish Performance Squad)
Ed Clifton (Chelmsford)
Robert Oliver (Solihull)
Stuart Wood
Jonathan Young
Xander Van der Poll (Royal Leamington Spa)
Ellen Field (Royal Leamington Spa)
Jon Tarrant (Royal Leamington Spa)
Canoe Sprint
Deborah Kerr (Anker Valley)
Kristina Armstrong (Scottish Performance Squad)
Emma Russell (Chelmsford)
Zoe Clark (Royal)
Thomas Lambert (Lincoln)
Emily Lewis (Worcester)
Daniel Johnson (Nottingham)*Subject to review
Lucy Lee – Smith (Norwich)**Subject to satisfactory completion of the medical screening process in line with section 8.2 of the published policy.
Appeals
The nomination list of athletes for the Paracanoe and Canoe Sprint World Class Programme is subject to Appeal and final ratification from UK Sport. The Paddle UK appeal process can be found here. Please remember that any appeal must be submitted within 5 working days of the publication of this statement to the Director of Governance at: appeals@resourcelibrary.paddleuk.org.uk. Any Appeal will be heard by three members of the Paddle UK Disciplinary and Appeal Panel Register (More details can be found here). If you object to any potential Panel members hearing your Appeal, please detail this in your Notice of Appeal as well as outlining the reasons for the objection
The deadline for appeals is 1530 Monday, 22 September 2025.