8th June 2009
Hannah Burgess
When a sport grabs hold of you, it stops being a hobby and becomes a way of life-literally!
I was 12 when I went to a taster session for canoeing in an old outdoor pool in Hull, my bemused parents stood on the side and watched me get very wet as I kept falling in because I had so little control. Five years later I was waving at my parents from a podium in Poland, after winning a Silver medal in the team event at the Junior European Championships.
My life (and my poor parents' lives) now revolves around canoeing, but I don't regret anything. My family and I have made new friends and travelled to places I never thought I'd go to. Not many people can say that when they were 15 years old they went to the 2004 Olympic site in Athens for a training camp!
Sometimes I will wake up at 7am on a very wet and windy November morning and ask myself why I don't just stay in bed like a normal student. But then I'm out on the water with my friends, getting such an adrenaline rush from the enjoyment of doing something I love that I forget the cold and the fact its 8am!
I received sporting awards from my school and from the East Riding when I was a junior. To be given that little bit of recognition made all the difference during the hard physical sessions I had to do.
I support the Hull and East Yorkshire sports awards because they inspire people to keep training and pushing themselves even harder - the effort put in now will make all the difference!
Hannah Burgess, 19, GB Canoe Slalom Squad
06/08/2010 - William Myles
02/07/2010 - Jordan Hunt
07/06/2010 - Nadia Hemmings
05/05/2010 - Martin Chapman
28/04/2010 - Rod Hulme - Beverley WhiteStar FC
21/04/2010 - Andrew Pahlen
14/04/2010 - Mike Ullyatt
Want to contribute?
If you have a local sports related story and would like us to post it on the website please email it and we'll cover it for free.
Members of the media who would like to cover the sports awards are asked to contact our press office on 01482 869553.














