My name is Charlie Brackpool. I am a 17-year-0ld from Horsham in Sussex and I’m a proud member of the 2015 GB Freestyle Kayaking Team.

I am asking for help to fund my trip to the 2015 World Championships in Ottawa, Canada this September.

The World Championships are the pinnacle of our sport, with athletes from around the world turning up to showcase their talent. I am going to do everything I can to take this opportunity that has been given to me and represent GB in the international event.

I have only been kayaking for 4 years and have quickly progressed to being in the top 3 juniors in Britain, with placings within the top 10 in international competition.

I started at my local lake attending the Saturday morning club sessions for fun. Wanting to take it further, I contacted a freestyle coach so he could give me a taster of the sport. This turned out to be a lot more than a taster for me.

Within the first day I learnt to do a front flip, and over the 4-day course my skills improved dramatically. Ever since then my freestyle kayaking has been getting better and better; I have competed in National and International competition and have always been one to watch out for.

At the moment I fund all my freestyle kayaking by working 5 days a week as a cleaner, on top of being a full-time student.

Future

Over the next 12 months I wish to progress my Kayaking as much as possible before the World Championships in September, learning new moves and pushing my boundaries.

I’m aiming for the top ten and driving for the top 5 at the World Championships, but I also want to learn as much as I can about competing in the highest level of my sport to ready myself for further events.

Over the rest of my year I aim to go and train in new features all around the world and compete on as many international stages as possible. Past this, my aim is to compete for the GB senior men’s team and push for a place at the 2017 World Championships in Rio; It would be an honour to compete on the Olympic course and help push my sport further and watch it grow

Training

As a full-time student, it is a challenge to fit in all the training that is needed to push my position further within the sport so I take every opportunity I get to be on the water and in my boat.

This means that I paddle full days on the weekends, sacrificing much of my social life for a sport I love. For these days there is a lot of traveling, to places like London, Cardiff and Nottingham, I’ve also spent weeks training in other countries training, like Canada, Spain and Uganda. During the week it is all about keeping up my fitness and developing my strength, so I regularly attend the gym and go for runs.

Achievements

2015 – 3rd at team trials

World Cup – 8th in Salt Spain, 11th in Sort Spain

2014 – 1st Lee Valley junior expert, 3rd Younguns U16’s

2013 – 4th Youth Freestyle Series U16’s, 5th Lee Valley junior

Click here to watch a recent interview with Made In Cardiff TV