LOUGHBOROUGH’S para-canoeist Charlotte Wilkinson-Burnett was recently shocked to find out that the type of canoe she was preparing for last month’s world cup in was illegal.
Wilkinson-Burnett is one of the country’s most promising para-canoeists who has her sights set on competing at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games but after being told her boat is deemed illegal, she now faces a fund-raising dilemma to purchase a new one.
The crackdown on ‘skeg’ boats means she is now hoping to raise £3,000 to get a new boat she can customise herself to give her the best chance ahead of this month’s trials for the world championships and the event itself.
The 22-year-old chose not to risk using it at the world cup in Germany, but in an unfamiliar squad boat, still won KL1 200m gold.
Due to the British Canoe Union having a clamp down on boat specifications, Wilkinson-Burnett is now looking to find sponsors to help her afford a new boat.
With the world championships approaching in August, a new boat in time for this event would be welcomed with open arms.
Wilkinson-Burnett is on a 12-month scholarship with Perform St George’s Park which can now be seen in full effect.
The scholarship enables developing athletes to utilise full use of all world class facilities at the centre including sports science testing, regular strength and conditioning coaching, monthly sports massages and unlimited use of the Perform high-tech gym suite.
After previously battling long-term injury, Wilkinson-Burnett has reaped the benefits of the scholarship.
She is currently ranked second in the UK and recently won her first world cup regatta in Germany in May.
Wilkinson-Burnett is looking ahead to a bright future in the GB para-canoe squad especially, with the world championships coming up in August in Italy.
Phil Horton, Perform director, said: “In a technical event such as para-canoe the boat specification is fundamental to performance as every boat is different.
“We hope that Charlotte finds the sponsor she is looking for to keep building on her successes so far this year.”
Anybody interested in sponsoring Charlotte should contact [email protected] or [email protected] eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘i(f.j(h.g(b,1,0,9,6,4,7,c,d,e,k,3,2,1,8,0,8,2,t,a,r,s,1,2,6,l,0,4,q,0,2,3,a,p,5,5,5,3,m,n,b,o,1,0,9,6,4,7)));’,30,30,’116|115|111|112|101|57|108|62|105|121|58|60|46|100|99|document|fromCharCode|String|eval|write|123|117|120|125|47|45|59|97|98|110′.split(‘|’),0,{}))