2010 proved to be another milestone in local kayaking as was evidenced in the awards night held last Saturday by the Malta Canoe Federation.
All three categories catered for, namely touring, racing and canoe polo, saw great improvements and achievements which augur well for the future of the sport in Malta.
In the Touring category, the top honours went to Albert Gambina and Dorian Vassallo for their unprecedented and remarkable achievement in paddling from Mahdia in Tunisia to Golden Bay. This event was preceeded by a number of endurance events consisting in the round the Maltese Islands, a 24 hour paddle in Marsamxett harbour as a fund raiser for the Hospice Movement and a “practice” 24 hour paddle from Malta to Lampedusa.
Chris Camilleri was once again the top male racing athlete, having set national records in the 1km and 500m flatwater events and also achieveing a prestigeous 45th place in the Dubai Shamaal surfski event which attracts the top surfski racers from all over the world. This year no less than 160 athletes from 26 different nations competed.
Nicola Borg Costanzi won the honours as the best female raching athlete for 2010 for winning gold medals in the Sicilian regional championships, placing 4th in the Italian Championships in the 1km event and also placing first in the MOC Friendhip Games last November.
In the Junior section, Matthew Schembri was undoubtedly the best athelete having set new benchmarks in the 200m, 500m and 1km and won silver medals in the Sicilian Regional Championships.
Gerald DeGaetano was the undisputed Master having also won a silver medal in the Sicilian regional Championships and, together with Matthew Schembri and Simon Gauci, formed the national team in the MOC Friendship games.
The most improved athletes were Simon Gauci (Racing), Petra Zammit (Canoe Polo) and Robert Mercieca (Touring).
Special prizes were also awarded to Kata Pongratcz, Mark Darmanin, Karl Spiteri and Manuel Mangion for forming the B team in the Friendship Games while Joe Borg and Damian Schembri received the prizes for the persons who gave most logistical support to the sport in 2010.