Egan Family honoured at Canoeing Ireland Awards
IT WAS a memorable occasion for the Egan Family at the recent Canoeing Ireland Awards Gala Night held in the Lucan Spa Hotel.
While Jenny Egan scooped both the ‘Senior Female Canoe Sprint Athlete’ and ‘Canoe Marathon Athlete of the Year’ accolades, her brother Peter was declared the Senior Male Canoe Marathon Athlete of the Year and their father Tom was honoured for his hard work with the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award.
Peter Egan, Moira Aston CEO of Canoeing Ireland, Angie, Tom and Jenny Egan, Jon Simmons, National Canoe Sprint Coach and Jon Mackey, Canoeing Ireland High Performance Director
It was a very proud moment for Tom, who has committed his life to the sport of canoeing for the past 50 years, beginning his career in Grade Ten Canoe Club in Lucan.
He himself competed in slalom events and began volunteering by helping beginners and juniors progress in the sport and attend events around the country.
From this he progressed into becoming the National Team Manager for Canoe Slalom Ireland.
Tom then decided to move his focus from Canoe Slalom to Canoe Sprint and Marathon and moved to Salmon Leap Canoe Club in Leixlip.
Alongside this Tom has also been a member of the Canoe Sprint Team Ireland Committee and is the longest serving Team Manager of Canoe Sprint Ireland to date- a post he still holds.
What’s more, he has been involved in the comment-ary of the International Liffey Descent throughout the years at Straffan weir, Lucan weir and the finish at Islandbridge.
Delighted at the recognition he received at the Canoe Ireland Awards, Tom told The Echo “I was absolutely gobsmacked. There are so many people doing great work in Canoe Ireland.
“What I do, I do for the love of the sport but I couldn’t do the work without the support of the athletes and my family, particularly my wife.
“I’d like to thank Canoe Ireland, the CEO Moira Ashton and John Mackey, the performance director and all the Board along with Peter Thomas of Salmon Leap” he added.
There was more good news for Salmon Leap as Eabha Ní Drisceoil picked up the ‘Junior Sprint and Marathon Paddler of the Year’ Award while Odhran McNally was declared the Senior Whitewater Race Paddler of the Year.
