Stafford and Stone Canoe Club Olympians
In the exciting times of the last few days there have been quotes about Joe Clarke being the 3rd of Stafford and Stone Canoe Club’s Olympians, but there have been more….
At the Munich Olympics of 1972, canoe slalom appeared in the games for the first time. The event was
held at the white water course in Augsburg, a competition venue that still hosts top International events
today.
At the Munich games Jon and Pauline Goodwin represented Team GB in canoe slalom.
Stafford and Stone Canoe Club was established in 1973 and Jon and Pauline were two of the founding
members.
Canoe Slalom did not then feature at the games again until Barcelona in 1992. In this period Stafford and
Stone had some outstanding paddlers. Pauline Goodwin switched her attention to Canoe Sprint and
competed at Montreal in 1976. In 1988 Liz Sharman (who had won the Canoe Slalom World Championships
in 1987) also switched to the sprint event and competed at Seoul.
In the 1980’s Richard Fox claimed the K1M World title 4 times (1981 Bala, Wales, 1983 Merano,Italy, 1985
Augsburg, Germany and 1989 Savage River, USA – in those days the World Champs were only held in
alternate years). Richard’s opportunity to compete at the Olympics came in 1992. The canoe slalom event
was held at La Seu d’Urgell. Richard narrowly missed out on a medal in 4 place. Richard did then claim the
World Championship title for a 5 time at Mezzana in Italy in 1993 and then retired from the sport.
Richard was not the only Stafford and Stone paddler at Barcelona. Melvyn Jones also competed and took
7th place and placed 3rd behind Richard in Mezzana.
Prior to Sydney 2000 it was possible to qualify up to 3 places in each of the 4 canoe slalom disciplines
(K1M, K1W, C1, C2). From 2000 onwards only 1 Olympic place per discipline has been available and
therefore selection to represent Team GB has been considerably harder.
It is more widely known that Laura Blakeman competed at Sydney 2000 and Lizzie Neave at London 2012.
It would be true to say that Laura, Lizzie and Joe are the club’s only Olympians that actually started out
from a young age as beginners at the club but in total the club actually claims 8 Olympians.
Andy Neave/Deborah Homer
Gateline & Publicity Officer
S&SCC
Freedom for borough golden boy Clarke
Leader of Stafford Borough Council, Patrick Farrington, said that he is proposing that Olympic champion Joe Clarke be given the Freedom of the Borough.
Councillor Farrington made the announcement following the gold medal for the Stafford and Stone Canoe Club paddler.
The Union Flag was also raised above the Civic Centre in recognition of Joe’s victory.
He said: “This was an unbelievable achievement. Like the rest of the country I was cheering Joe on from the start to the finish line. And it was it was great to see members of his family were there in person to cheer him on.
“The skill, courage and commitment he displayed in achieving Olympic gold will be an inspiration to so many.”
He added: “It is also a fantastic tribute to the Stafford and Stone Canoe Club who, time and time again, have demonstrated what a successful organisation they are at producing world class competitors.”
Joe was proposed by Councillor Farrington for the honour as a ‘person of distinction’ – and this must now be voted on by members of the Council at a special meeting which will take place at a future date.