Nigel Graham – Canoe / Kayak Biography
I have been canoeing and kayaking for approximately 35 years. Like a lot of people in Ireland and the UK I was introduced to the sport in school as part of an after school canoeing club. At the canoe club we were introduced to all aspects of canoeing and kayaking and my interests started to turn towards multiday canoeing trips, slalom and surfing.
I pursued competitive slalom and became the U18 K1 Slalom Champion and went on to compete in the British Schools Slalom championships where I placed 3rd in the U18 category. At this time I started to compete in wave ski competitions and represented Ulster in the all-Ireland Interprovincial Wave Ski Championships. I also took an interest in coaching others in the club and completed, as it was then, my BCU Instructors award.
I returned to N Ireland after finishing college and started my interest in Canoe Polo (Kayak Polo). After training for a year, I was selected as part of the Irish Senior Men’s canoe Polo Squad. I remained part of the squad for 5 years and competed in National and International competitions. At this time, I also was selected to join the council of the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland (CANI). CANI is the governing body for canoeing and kayaking in Northern Ireland and together with the English, Scottish and Welsh associations make up the British Canoeing Union. The CANI council handles all aspects of the governing and day to day running of canoeing and kayaking in N Ireland, from helping clubs to managing coaching awards and coaches. As well as being part of the general council I also had responsibility for promoting the competitive disciplines.
After spending several years back in N Ireland, I then moved to Scotland for a few years with work and while there was asked to join a Division 1 canoe polo team. I played for several seasons for the Linlithgow Club A team, competing in Scottish local and National competitions.
After again returning back to N Ireland, in 2004 I was asked to coach the Irish Women’s Canoe Polo Development squad. I did this for one year then took over as coach for the Irish Senior Women’s National Canoe Polo Squad in 2005 and coached them for an additional two years. This included the 2006 World Championships in Amsterdam.
I also was asked back to the CANI council and took up my previous position as Competitive Council Rep. In addition to this position I was also asked to manage N Ireland’s high-performance athletes. This involved providing funding guidance, managing funding applications and ensuring training logs and trip reports were completed for N Ireland athletes competing on the Irish slalom team and Irish Canoe Polo teams. As part of the council I was also responsible for developing and arranging Talent Identification events for Slalom and Canoe Polo. As a result of these events and in conjunction with an Olympic Slalom coach we established N Ireland first junior slalom development squad. This comprised of 13 U16 paddlers ranging from never paddled before to experienced. We started a 4 year program called beyond 2012. The aim was to take these juniors and get them on the road to success for the 2016 & 2020 Olympics. I was also an assistant coach for this program. Together with another assistant coach of this program we started to compete in Senior Men’s C2 Slalom. We mainly competed in local and National events in Ireland and became Irish C2 Champions, and kept this tile for 3 years until I left N Ireland to move to the US.
In 2011 I was selected to be a volunteer team leader at the London 2012 Olympics. I was part of the Field Of Play team for the Canoe / Kayak Slalom event at Lee Valley White Water Center. This involved working with the slalom course designer and setting the course up and maintaining the field of play equipment, i.e. the slalom gates, ensuring they did not move and performing any running repairs to failed equipment. This was for the duration of the practice event in 2011 and the actual Olympics in 2012.
I moved to the US in 2011 and in 2012 became involved with the US Senior Women’s Kayak Polo squad as assistant coach. This included coaching alongside the head coach at the 2013 World games in Columbia. After the World Games I took over as head coach and coached the squad until the end of 2015 when I transitioned from Head coach to squad Manger. I managed the squad until the end of the 2016 World Championships. I have also been an active member of the Carolina Canoe Polo Club and competingregularly in the US kayak Polo Championships.
Currently I am working at developing Kayak Polo in the Carolina regions. I am working to establish a kayak polo club based in a local high school and also working with a local sailing club to introduce kayaking lessons for kids as part of their club benefits for members.