Paralysed Eventer Saffron Cresswell Reaches Para-Canoe Worlds After Eight Months
- British para-canoeist Saffron Cresswell is set to compete at the Canoe Sprint and Para-Canoe World Championships in Poznan, Poland, after first sitting in a canoe on 23 December...
- After leaving hospital, Cresswell tried wheelchair racing, tennis, and basketball, but struggled to find a discipline she wanted to dedicate herself to, noting that she feared she would...
- I don't have any feedback of any part of my body if I am losing balance.
British para-canoeist Saffron Cresswell is set to compete at the Canoe Sprint and Para-Canoe World Championships in Poznan, Poland, after first sitting in a canoe on 23 December last year. Cresswell’s path to international competition began after a spinal injury. Approximately a week before leaving the spinal unit, she attended the Spinal Games at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where she tried several sports and won an archery competition against 110 participants. She left hospital on 8 October.
Transition to Para-Canoe and Rapid Progression
After leaving hospital, Cresswell tried wheelchair racing, tennis, and basketball, but struggled to find a discipline she wanted to dedicate herself to, noting that she feared she would never find a sport matching the energy she gave to horses. Her transition to para-canoe started after chatting with Olympic canoe athlete Deborah Kerr at an event run by the Women’s Sport Trust charity, leading Cresswell to try the sport on December 23 of last year. Initially, winter weather and lack of balance made the transition difficult. Cresswell stated that her coach was hesitant to let her leave the bank for about a month due to the risk of capsizing. Because she lacks core function and sensory feedback from her lower body, she relies entirely on her head and eyes to maintain balance while strapped into her boat.
I don’t have any feedback of any part of my body if I am losing balance. So I’m strapped into a seat because I’ve got no core function, but I can’t actually feel that seat. So I basically feel like I’m floating.
Goals at the World Championships
What began as a quiet goal to achieve a target time of one minute 26 seconds evolved rapidly through repetition and practice, with Cresswell eventually bringing her time down to one minute 18 seconds. She will compete in both the VL1 and KL1 events in Poland. Having only raced once previously in the United Kingdom, her immediate aims for the tournament remain modest. Her primary objectives are to stay upright, navigate the start and finish lines, and secure an international classification. Obtaining this classification involves medical assessments of her impairment, which will allow her to earn ranking points toward qualification for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
