Louisa Jane Gurski (née Sawers, born 26 May 1988) is a
London 2012 Olympic Games finalist who competes in
Sprint Kayaker for Great Britain. She was brought up in
Walton-on-Thames and started
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
at
Elmbridge Canoe Club,
Weybridge
Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...
at the age of 10.
International results
Early success saw her win the 2006 World Junior Marathon Championships in both K1 and K2 events with
Jessica Walker
Jessica Samantha Walker (born 24 June 1990 in Brighton) is a British sprint canoeist who has competed since the late 2000s until present. She came 7th in the London 2012 K-1 200m final and 5th in the K-4 500m final. She also competed at ...
. She then moved to
Marlow, Buckinghamshire to train with the
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
team at
Dorney Lake
Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...
and
Bisham Abbey.
2009
2009 was a breakthrough year in the Senior sprint events for Louisa, where she won a Bronze Medal at the
2009 Canoe Sprint European Championships The 2009 Canoe Sprint European Championships were held in Brandenburg, Germany.
Medal overview
Source:
Men
Women
Medal table
References
External links
European Canoe Association
{{Canoe Sprint European Championships
Canoe Sprint Euro ...
in the K4
200m
The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...
, 5th in the K4
500m at the same event. Another 5th at the
2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
The 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held 12–16 August 2009 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Lake Banook. The competition was organized by the International Canoe Federation (ICF). The Canadian city was selected to host the ...
in
Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to:
Places
* Dartmouth, Devon, England
** Dartmouth Harbour
* Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States
* Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
* Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia
Institutions
* Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
confirmed the results were not a fluke. She finished the year with a Silver at the Under 23 Canoe Marathon World Championships in
Gaia
In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenog ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
.
2010
A solid year for Louisa in the Sprint event where she came 9th (K2 500m) at the
2010 Canoe Sprint European Championships The 2010 Canoe Sprint European Championships
The Canoe Sprint European Championships (or European Canoe Sprint Championships) is an international canoeing and kayaking event organized by the European Canoe Association (ECA). It was first held in 1 ...
in
Trasona
Trasona (in Asturian ''Tresona'', and officially Trasona/Tresona is one of seven parishes (administrative divisions) in the Corvera de Asturias municipality, within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain.
Its pop ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and then another 5th (k4 500m) at the
2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
The 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held 19–22 August 2010 in Poznań, Poland, on Lake Malta. This was the third time that the Polish city hosted the championships, having done so previously in 1990 and 2001. Paracanoe (forme ...
, gaining time on the medal positions.
2011
Remaining in the GB Women's K4
500m event throughout the year, Louisa was 6th at the
2011 Canoe Sprint European Championships
The 2011 Canoe Sprint European Championships was held on 17–19 June at Belgrade, Serbia.
Medal table
Medal overview
Men
Women
References
External linksResults
{{Canoe Sprint European Championships
Canoe Sprint European Championships
...
in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and this was followed by a 4th and
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
qualification at the
2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
The 2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships was the thirty-ninth edition of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, that took place between 17 and 21 August 2011 in Szeged, Hungary. The Southern Hungarian city welcomed the world event for the ...
in
Szeged,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
.
2012
Louisa started the season at the
2012 Canoe Sprint European Championships
The 2012 Canoe Sprint European Championships was held on 22–24 June at Zagreb, Croatia.
Medal table
Medal overview
Men
Women
References
External links
*
{{Canoe Sprint European Championships
Canoe Sprint European Championships
Canoe ...
in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, with a 4th in the Women's K4
500m event. At the
London Olympics 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in August she came 5th in the Women's K4
500m final, competing with
Rachel Cawthorn,
Jess Walker and
Angela Hannah
Angela Hannah (born 24 March 1986 in Harare, Zimbabwe) is a British sprint canoer who has competed since 2007. In the 2012 European Championships she finished 4th in the K4 500m event. She is part of the women's K4 500 m Great Britain tea ...
. She came 11th in the K2
500m event with
Abigail Edmonds.
2014
Sawers won the K-1 5000 m at the
2014 World Championships.
2016
Competing as Louisa Gurski, she was part of the Great Britain women's K-4 500 m team finished 7th along with Jess Walker, Rachel Cawthorn and
Rebii Simon.
Support and sponsors
She is supported by the
UK Sport
UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
It was created ...
Olympic Podium Programme and sponsored by
Sweaty Betty
Sweaty Betty is a British retailer specialising in women's activewear, founded by Tamara and Simon Hill-Norton. It has over 50 boutiques in the United Kingdom, six boutiques in the United States and concessions in department stores Harrods and ...
, Shock Absorber and
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurski, Louisa
1988 births
English female canoeists
Living people
Canoeists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic canoeists for Great Britain
Sportspeople from Surrey
British female canoeists
Canoeists at the 2015 European Games
European Games competitors for Great Britain
Sportspeople from Chertsey