A LLANDYSUL canoe instructor has received a national award for his coaching.

Gareth Bryant, manager at Llandysul Paddlers has been awarded the Geoff Good Award 2021 from British Canoeing.

The award, presented by Alister Dickson, CEO of Canoe Wales, is given to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of the sport, shown significant commitment to both personal and professional development, and who have gone above and beyond for the wider advancement of the sport.

Mr Dickson expressed his delight to see Gareth win the award, saying: “I was delighted to be awarding Gareth with this award on behalf of British Canoeing. Gareth’s passion, endless energy and friendly approach has inspired thousands over the years and his contributions has been recognised.

“Thank you, Gareth, for all your dedication and hard work.”

Gareth has been a member of Llandysul Paddlers since 1984, one of the ‘first batch’ of paddlers he explained, saying, “As I was one of the first batch of paddlers to come through the club, and as we did not have many coaches, I automatically helped to coach the next wave of paddlers who came after us.

“I found early on that I liked to coach and I was lucky enough to work with some great coaches at an early age. They pointed me in the right direction and it was great to pick up awards along the way.”

Head coach and performance manager of Canoe Wales also shared his congratulations to Gareth, saying, “I am very pleased to see Gareth’s hard work get rewarded.

“Gareth has been an inspiration to so many paddlers over the last 30 years.”