Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - An incredible tale of determination and overcoming personal obstacles behind the GB Youth Raft team's New Zealand success.

GB men's youth rafting team surprised the rafting community at the World Championships in November in New Zealand by becoming proud 4th best in the world, nudged only and marginally by the U19 Turkish raft in 3rd.

Not only were they the first ever U19 crew chosen to represent Great Britain at the Worlds, they were also triple-medallists at their first ever international competition and the first British raft to ever win a medal in the 45-minute downriver competition.

No one had heard of this Hertfordshire-based (beyond North London) crew before consisting of Andrew Skinner, Sam Daley, Elliot Taylor, Elliott Woodman, Matt Bishop, Ralph Hall and Jacob Hussain, yet now all ears are most certainly pricked and eyes widely open.

6 crew-members participated in each event, their results were better in all categories than the British U23, Senior (Open) and Masters rafts, except for Open W sprint:

In the sprint GB were just beaten by Turkey which meant they had to go into the knock-out stage to qualify for the Head to Head against Russia, hosts New Zealand and the Czechs. Defeating the rest of the field, GB Youth Men went through to the final where they were narrowly overtaken again by new nemesis Turkey.

After the Sprint which was the first race I was emotionally drained and walked away from the team and cried with probably the biggest grin on my face since the birth of my children over 25 years ago. Without doubt the team performed out of their skins. They were determined not to go home empty handed and with the Head to Head in particular I saw a joint fighting spirit which made me immensely proud. Seeing them on the rostrum with the Union flag was indeed a day I shall always remember. Team Manager, Malcolm Ferris-Lay.

Slalom was the lads' weakest stage, even with having the fastest run they racked up the penalties. Their downriver performance over tricky and challenging whitewater was solid into 3rd behind New Zealand and Gold-winning Russia.

For the whole squad, getting to the Worlds in New Zealand and to where they are now, in only a staggering 9 months since they first formed the team, has been a truly remarkable achievement.

One of the most powerful stories of the year to come from the paddlesports community; this is how the team's entry to the World Championships was almost ill-fated due to financial burdens, but more importantly, how in the face of adversity the team came together when Sam Daley, Front Left, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.

The genesis of unexpected Lee Valley prodigies

Joining forces in February 2013, none of the team had ever paddled together in a raft as a unit yet all were already accomplished paddlers from the Herts Young Mariners Base activity centre just outside of London.

The strong young entourage delivered some very fast times at the first selection event at Lee Valley and then at the second in Matlock, Derbyshire they blew away a field of 9 'older' boats, GB Senior Women also competed on this day really upping the level of participation.

The gents are all 'unexpected' prodigies of the development of the Lee Valley site, originally constructed with the 2012 Olympics and canoe slalom legacy in mind. Diversification into other paddlesports is becoming ever more important.

A year after the Games corporate and public rafting experiences have become core to the long-term financial sustainability of the centre – a trend we are seeing at so many artificial whitewater courses around the world. With this though, positively there has been an incredible surge in raft-sport in the UK, particularly where there are very few suitable rivers to train on.

Lee Valley water-use is managed like any major international airport runway; time slots are allocated for public descents (rafting, paddling, other watersports) as well as for elite and youth training. If any slots remain unbooked or are unused, others, like the GB rafting crews can capitalise and get extra training runs in.

Last minute slots and relentless training on the grade 4 Olympic whitewater at Lee Valley helped the young GB crew to progress quickly in a very short space of time – if anything they had a slight edge over their rivals as the competitions in New Zealand were generally held over grade 2 to 3 rapids, the only major difference being Lee Valley does not have any boulders!

Complimenting this, the youth squad were fortunate to be put through rigorous flatwater training and were coached, voluntarily, by 3 members of the GB Senior raft;  Pas Blackwell, Ashley Roper and Matt Blue.

A ticket to paddle

New Zealand is a long way from Hertfordshire, so for the cost of flights, accommodation, equipment and GB kit, each paddler in the youth contingent needed about £2000, a total of £20k for the troop; 14 paddles at £150 each gives you an idea of some of the costs involved. Team Manager Malcolm and Team Administrator Wendy Daley (Sam's mother) set about this monumental challenge in only a few mere months.

Rafting is a fairly new sport for this age group in the UK; currently and sadly, it receives no government funding. Hopefully GB Youth's stella success at the World Championships will change this for future teams attracting the interest of UK Sport and national lottery funding. At present all funding comes from private sponsors.

With the support of 3 London businessmen, local businesses, local counsellors, regional sporting bodies like Active Broxbourne, who recently held the first ever Watersports Summit also at Lee Valley, and the Hertfordshire community who really embraced the youth team, funds began to trickle in. Armed with collection buckets, the septet of novice paddlers even packed shoppers' bags in a local supermarket to make every penny count.

Positively in terms of organisation, rafting in England does have its own representative panel, The English White Water Rafting Committee (EWWRC), which is a specialist sub-branch of the British Canoe Union (BCU) that gives some autonomy to rafters.

The EWWRC provides technical advice to commercial outfitters, carries out BCU rafting centre assessments, organises and runs British team selection events and oversees the mentoring system in England for newly-qualified raft guides – importantly it also has a close relationship with the International Rafting Federation (IRF).

The courage of Sam Daley

On the 23rd May 2013, five and a half months before the World Championships, Sam Daley (16) was diagnosed of having cancer. Despite a shadow being cast over the team, there was neither any doubt that they would not compete and nor would they do so without Sam.

"When I was diagnosed with cancer I just wanted to carry on as normal and get the treatment over with as quickly as possible I told my consultant at our very first meeting that he only had a few months to cure me as I was going to New Zealand to compete in the World Champs. All the staff who were in the room looked at each other and thought I was mucking about but I told them there was no way I was not going."

It was Malcolm who brought the news to the team as Sam did not know how to put it to them;  they were all incredibly supportive as 'brothers' would.

Sam was treated at the specialist Teenage Cancer Unit at University College Hospital in London where his cancer was re-classified as rare and milder Hodgkins; he required an intensive 6-week period of chemotherapy.

Consequently Sam lost his hair and put on weight, but he was still determined to compete albeit worried over his temporary loss of fitness. Inspiringly he continued to train, if anything going to New Zealand to represent his country and the county drove him, and took his mind off his condition:

“The worst time was about three weeks after the first chemo treatment when my hair came out and my fitness and stamina levels started to drop. My team mates just kept treating me as normal they supported me through training and understood if I had to 'catch my breath' for a few minutes.”

Post treatment scans showed a success rate of 95% but with 5% of cancer remaining that would require further chemo. Sam then upped his training working really hard to build his fitness and stamina. However, even at this stage Sam's doctors and the International Rafting Federation (IRF) had to be convinced that Sam was fit to fly and in turn participate.

“Sam’s Oncologist did a deal with Sam in that he would clear him to compete in New Zealand only if he underwent 4 weekly ultra sounds to monitor the remaining sight to ensure it was stable. The chemo treatment Sam had contained steroids so we had to check out the position regarding him being able to compete vs drugs testing with the IRF. He was cleared to compete and in turn the organisers of the World Championships requested a short article," Wendy Daley.

Sam so proudly made it to the Worlds jokingly promising his medical team a medal!

He was accompanied by his honoured father whilst mum, Wendy, stayed home managing all PR – she sourced then sent out photos and race reports to sponsors, schools, friends as well as families of other team members who could not make the round-the-world trip.

Wendy, admitted that Sportscene became her news-fix on her son's and the team's progress:

I had heard of Sportscene as you followed and reported events in New Zealand whilst the team were competing so I was able to keep up to speed with events out there via your website!

As for Sam, it was one of the most noble, memorable moments of his life.

It was my first time competing outside of the UK and it was great getting to know the teams from other countries, we made firm friends out there. I couldn’t believe it when we came second in our first race, the sprint, and I felt so proud when we were presented with our medals. Then, when we secured two more it just showed how far we had come together as a team. New Zealand is a fantastic country and its people are great, I would love to go back there some day.

Post-Worlds, Sam continues his treatment but as somewhat of a celebrity.

“Now when I go up to UCL everyone wants to see my medals. Last week I had to stay in hospital after they took my biopsies and loads of nurses and consultants kept stopping by my bed congratulating me and telling what an amazing achievement it was to be competing at such a high level and successfully so soon after chemo treatment - I just said I did tell my consultant there was no way I wasn’t going!”

Sam had further biopsies taken on the 5th December. The latest update from the Daley camp is that Sam still has cancer and will undergo a second cycle of chemo straight into the New Year. Treatment is said to last for 3 to 4 months and will be much stronger than previously. Unfortunately, Sam has been advised to keep off the water during this point. “I foresee more heated debates between patient and expert...”, says Wendy.

*Sportscene and the paddle community would like to wish Sam all the best in his ongoing treatment. Please post your comments below.

And so for 2014...

Sam would very much like to be European Champion in rafting together with getting promoted into Division 1 in canoe slalom, his performance last season was been hindered by his treatment.

The team will continue to train at Lee Valley. Malcolm is looking into the possibility of training weekends in Matlock, Derbyshire and at other locations across the UK, plus a weekend training camp in Europe somewhere.

He added, “We are currently working out with the team what competitions we will take part in next year and whether we want to do both R6's and R4's. We are hoping to compete in the European Championships but this will be dependent on exam and university commitments.”

On the road to the 2014 World Championships, the young rafters' learning curve will rocket skywards as they gain more and more experience, who knows Gold could really be on the cards down the line.

[Stayed tuned to Sportscene in 2014 for details of GB Youth Team Rafting's progress.]

GBR men's rafts

Links

British Rafting: www.britishraftteam.co.uk

English White Water Rafting Committee on Facebook

2013 World Rafting Championships: www.2013raftingworldsnz.com

Update 11/04/14:

"Status so far is that Sam completed chemotherapy on 21 March and, despite all the 'watchouts' we were given by his consultant when treatment started in January, Sam has remained incredibly fit and healthy. His weight has been stable throughout, he has retained his hair, has not succumbed to any infection and has upped his attendance at the local gym.  Sam will have a PET and MRI scan on Friday 25 April and we have a meeting with the consultant on 30th for the results." Wendy Daley.

Update 02/05/14:

Excellent news that Sam received the all clear and there was no further sign of cancer. He was also nominated as the Active Broxbourne Sports Performer of the Year.