Sheila Burnett

Last updated

Sheila Burnett (born 4 July 1949) is a British sprint canoeist who competed in the 1970s. She is believed to be the first woman to complete the Devizes to Westminster marathon canoe race, which she entered in 1971 as part of a mixed crew with Colin Dickens, then a fellow member of Cambridge University Canoe Club. [1] Women were at that time barred from the event, so Sheila sent in her entry using her initials rather than her full forenames to disguise her gender. [2] Sheila and her partner successfully completed the 125 mile course, but were subsequently disqualified as ineligible and did not appear in the official results. [3] Although unofficial reports of their race time are contradictory, evidence suggests that they finished the event in just under 35 hours, including an overnight stop. [3] [4] Sheila went on to represent Great Britain at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where she was eliminated in the semifinals of the K-1 500 m event. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Redgrave</span> British rower

Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds. He is the most successful male rower in Olympic history, and the only man to have won gold medals at five Olympic Games in an endurance sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devizes</span> Town in Wiltshire, England

Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between Stephen of England and Empress Matilda, and again during the English Civil War when the Cavaliers lifted the siege at the Battle of Roundway Down. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, and today little remains of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cracknell</span> British rower

James Edward Cracknell, is a British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours List.

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of the 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1908 was open for a total of five sailing classes (disciplines), but actually only four Sailing events were contested. The planned venue of all races, named matches, was Ryde, Isle of Wight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon</span> Marathon canoe race in England

The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon is a marathon canoe race in England. The race is held every Easter over a course of 125 miles (201 km) from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in central London. It has been run since 1948. Starting at Devizes wharf, the route follows the Kennet and Avon canal for 54 miles to Reading, where it joins the Thames. Another 54 miles later it reaches Teddington Lock, ending 17 miles later at Westminster Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheila Florance</span> Australian actress (1916–1991)

Sheila Mary Florance was an Australian theatre, television and film actress. She played numerous roles in the Crawford Productions before playing Dossie Rumsay in the rural series Bellbird but became best known internationally for her performance as elderly, alcoholic convict Lizzie Birdsworth in the television series Prisoner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Rudman</span> British skeleton bobsleigh athlete

Shelley Rudman is a former skeleton bobsleigh athlete. She was the 2013 world champion in the event, won an Olympic silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in skeleton and is a former World Cup and European champion.

The Schools' Head of the River Race (SHORR) is the UK's largest school-age processional race and is organised by Westminster School for crews aged between 14 and 18 years old. It is held in Spring, the end of the head race season.

The Waterside Series is a series of four marathon canoe races held on the Kennet and Avon Canal and finishing at the Newbury Waterside Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoe marathon</span> Paddling sport

Canoe marathon is a paddling sport in which athletes paddle a kayak or canoe over a long distance to the finish line. The International Canoe Federation states the standard distances are at least 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) without an upper limit, while short distance races are between 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi), and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). Many events are raced down sections of river, including currents or portages around obstacles. Some events attract thousands of competitors and are staged over several days.

The Thameside Series are two canoe and kayak races organised by Reading Canoe Club, that coincide with the Waterside Series races, organised by Newbury Canoe Club. The two races are Thameside 1, and Thameside 2.

Ivan Lawler is a British marathon canoeist who competed from the late 1980s to the late 1990s, winning five gold and two silver medals at the canoe marathon world championships. He also competed in canoe sprint, and won two medals in the K-2 10000 m event at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with a gold (1990) and a silver. At club level, he has always competed for Elmbridge canoe club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Glover</span> British rower

Helen Glover is a British professional rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. Ranked the number 1 female rower in the world in 2015–16, she is a two-time Olympic champion, triple World champion, quintuple World Cup champion and quadruple European champion. She and her partner Heather Stanning were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the Olympic, World and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quadruple sculls.

Jo Brigden-Jones is an Australian kayaker. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in sprint kayaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France at the 2016 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

France competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for four athletes in sailing events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austria at the 2016 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Austria competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's twenty-seventh appearance at the Summer Olympics. Austrian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. The Austrian Olympic Committee confirmed a squad of 71 athletes, 37 men and 34 women, to compete across 22 sports at the Games. The nation's full roster had one more participant than the previous two Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Leijerstam</span> British polar adventurer (born 1978)

Maria Leijerstam is a British polar adventurer. In 2013 she became the first person to cycle to the South Pole from the edge of the continent. Leijerstam started her expedition on the Ross Ice Shelf at the edge of the Antarctic continent, and cycled for 10 to 17 hours each day with no rest days, and the total distance cycled was 638 km (396 mi). Leijerstam's cycle was a three wheeled design, and she reached the pole faster than any previous skiing expedition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Baltimore mayoral election</span> Election in Baltimore, Maryland, US

The 2016 Baltimore mayoral election was held November 8, 2016 concurrent with the General Election. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the incumbent mayor, did not run for reelection. Catherine Pugh won the election on November 8, 2016, with 57% of the popular vote, and took office on December 6, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China at the 2016 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

China has qualified to send athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Sports China competed in include blind football, archery, boccia, cycling, goalball, judo, paracanoeing, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denmark at the 2020 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Denmark competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Danish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis.

References

  1. "Devizes To Westminster International Canoe Race" . Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  2. "Editorial". Canoeing in Britain. June 1971.
  3. 1 2 "Mixed D-W Crew". Canoeing Magazine. May 1971.
  4. "DW and Waterside Canoe Race Results Database" . Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  5. "Sports-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2015.