#Canoeing - Canoeing Ireland is teaming up with the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland to host a joint Paddlefest in Waterford and Kilkenny on 6-7 April.

The conference centre at the HUB in Cillin Hill, outside Kilkenny, will be the centre of events for the weekend that Waterford Today says will feature competitions, workshops and "awe-inspiring displays" for canoeing, kayaking and paddling experts and novices alike.

Action on the waterways is open to all age groups and abilities, though with a focus on intermediate and advanced paddling skills.

Those taking part will be able to sign up for four workshops over the weekend hosted by top instructors and coaches.

More details of the weekend are available on the Canoeing Ireland website HERE. Registrations are open till this Friday 15 March so be sure not to miss out!

#Canoeing - Larne women will be paddling the Bann this April all in the aid of a very good cause.

The 24-strong group from local fitness club BeFit, going by the title of the BeFit Challengers, will take to the water on 20 April for the start of a two-day canoeing expedition, along the River Bann and out to the Atlantic.

As the Larne Times reports, these ladies hope the challenge - and an epic mountain cycling event later in the year - will raise funds for Cancer Focus Northern Ireland.

BeFit owner Andrea Kernohan said: “I like to set the BeFit girls a challenge every so often, so that they have a fitness gold to work towards. I thought these Cancer Focus challenge events were perfect.

"Sadly this cause is close to mine and the girls’ hearts as so many people have been affected by cancer in one way or another.”

The Larne Times has more on the story HERE.

#RESCUE - A lifeguard at Galway's Leisureland has been praised for his part in the rescue of a canoeist who got into difficulty in the water off Salthill, as The Connacht Sentinel reports.

Ian Brennan raced to the water after a woman looking across from the Galway Bay Hotel spotted the man in trouble a few hundred yards from the shore and raised the alarm.

The Leisureland duty manager, a former competitive swimmer with experience in water safety, said he didn't think twice about the incident.

"I grabbed a ring buoy, ran across the road, stripped down to my boxers and swam to the person," he said.

Brennan managed to swim ashore with the canoeist as Galway's RNLI lifeboat was being dispatched to the scene.

He also commended the lifeboat crew "for the speed at which they launched" and for their quick treatment of the canoeist for hypothermia.

Despite the applause he received from onlookers once back on land, Brennan described his actions as "no big deal".

The Connacht Sentinel has more on the story HERE.

# CANOEING: Ireland’s two senior competitors at the Canoe Marathon World Championships finished in the top 20 in their classes in Rome today. In the women’s K1, Jenny Egan had a frustrating run which included a capsize and was eventually placed 16th. This was just over seven minutes behind Renata Csay of Hungary. In the men’s K1, Peter Egan was 17th. The event was won by Spain’s Ivan Alonso.

Canoe Marathon World Championships – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

K1 Senior: 1 Spain (I Alonso) 2 hours 11 mins 43.120 seconds; 17 P Egan 2:16:28.870.

Women

K1 Senior: 1 Hungary (R Csay) 2 hours 1 minute 2.710 seconds; 16 J Egan 2:08:05.460

#CANOEING - The Irish Times reports that Ciaran Heurteau is 10th in the World Cup standings for 2012 in the K1 slalom.

The Irish paddler, raised in Paris, has competed in all five Canoe Slalom World Cup events this year, with his best result of 5th place at Pau in France in mid summer, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

More recently the 25-year-old finished 15th at last weekend's event in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Heurteau, who was beaten to a spot at the London Olympics by Eoin Rheinisch, is at 47th place in the latest International Canoe Federation (ICF) world rankings, which are decided from results over a two-year period.

He stands nine places ahead of Rheinisch, who lost out on a place in K1 final in London after a disastrous 50-second time penalty in his semi-final run.

#CANOEING - A team of hardy souls from Leamington Spa in England will attempt to paddle their way across the island of Ireland for charity from next weekend.

The Leamington Courier reports on the 13-strong 'Irish Deliverance' team, which will set out on five Canadian canoes from the Giant's Causeway on the Antrim coast next Friday 24 August.

They will be following a route through Lough Neagh and Lough Erne and across the border along the River Shannon all the way to Limerick, which they hope to reach by Sunday 2 September.

Team leader Jon Devaney says the group has been practising for months for the 372-mile challenge, aiming to raise money for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

And it's not the first time he's embarked on such an epic voyage - with Devaney, his brother David and friends completing the 10,000-mile Mongol Rally last year, and raising more than £7,000 (€8,900) for the air ambulance service in the process.

The Leamington Courier has more on the story HERE.

#canoe – A blind journalist, canoeist and past pupil at ChildVision's national education centre for blind children will paddle the River Shannon in aid of ChildVision this weekend. Wesley Bourke and his paddling partner Aisa Cooper will take on the 360km (225 mile) feat from August 16th-19th, covering 100km per day for the first three days. The challenge will begin at Dowra in County Cavan and cover the counties of Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Galway, Clare and Tipperary as they make their way to Limerick.

"No blind person has ever done this before but I'm confident we'll not only complete the challenge, but we'll get it done on schedule," said Bourke. "And ChildVision really deserves every support you can give them, and I hope everyone along the route will be generous in supporting them, and us, too."

Wesley was diagnosed with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy at a eighteen while he was completing an apprenticeship with the Air Corp, leaving him with less than 15% vision. He attended ChildVision's integrated post-primary school, Pobal Scoil Rosmini, to complete his Leaving Certificate. Graduating in 1998 Wesley went on to study International relations at the University of Hull and Kings College London. He now works as a journalist at An Cosantóir, the Defence Forces magazine.

An adventure enthusiast, Wesley recently completed the Devizes – Westminster International Canoeing Marathon with Aisa, paddling over 200km in a two man kayak in preparation for this event. Wesley and Aisa are members of the Celbridge Paddlers Canoe Club, Co. Kildare.

The pair will take to the Shannon in a K2 kayak on August 16th to raise funds for ChildVision, Ireland's only national education centre for blind children. ChildVision works with over 800 families throughout the country providing educational resources and facilities for blind children.

#OLYMPICS ON TV - Sailing action continues for another week at the London Olympics, with BBC Three and BBC HD being the best places to catch the race action on TV.

First place Annalise Murphy will be racing her Laser Radial this afternoon and tomorrow - races that sadly will not be televised, according to our sources - but her class' medal race scheduled for Monday 6 August at 2pm, with live coverage expected on RTÉ and BBC.

In the 49er, Matt McGovern and Ryan Seaton are half-way through their race schedule and will be in action in three races today 3 August, with two apiece on Sunday 5 August and Monday 6 August, and with the medal race in their class set for next Wednesday 8 August at 2pm.

In the 470, Scott Flanigan and Ger Owens have just got their campaign underway and will be racing this afternoon, tomorrow 4 August, Monday 6 August and Tuesday 7 August, with the medal race sheduled for Thursday 9 August at 2pm on BBC One.

James Espey in the Laser will also be in action today and tomorrow from 1pm, with the medal race in his class set for Monday 6 August at 2pm.

Meanwhile, David Burrows and Peter O'Leary will be looking to put their recent disqualification behind them this afternoon, with the medal race in their Star class to be contested on Sunday 5 August at 2pm on BBC Three.

In canoeing, Ireland's last medal hopes rest with Andrzej Jezierski in the men's C1 200m. The Polish native will be in action in the first heat of the day on Friday 10 August at 9.50am, with the semi-finals set for 11.15am should he qualify, and the finals taking place on Saturday 11 August at 9.45am.

In rowing, Sanita Puspure easily outclassed the field in her semi-final race, crossing the line 10 seconds ahead of her closest rival, and the Latvian heads into tomorrow's finals in lane 3 of the C group at 10.20am on BBC One and RTÉ Two.

#canoe – Antrim woman Hannah Craig's hopes of a medal in the K1 slalom canoe final ended this afternoon when she hit three gates on the way down in her bid for glory.

Craig was first into the water in the final but hitting gates five, nine and 16 cost her a six-second penalty and she finished with a time of 127.36 well outside of the medal times.

It all went wrong for Eoin Rheinisch in the semi final of the canoe slalom at the Olympic Games today. Surprisingly good times set by the early starters in the K1 at the Lee Valley course put pressure on the 32 year old Kildareman; but he was still in the mix to make the final until gates 18 and 19 which come after a big drop. He came through gate 18 but was carried too far and could not make it back to negotiate 19 (an upstream gate). He incurred a 50-second penalty and lost his chance of making the top 10 and progressing. He said afterwards that he was devastated and that the back of his boat had clipped the side of the course and he could not recover.