World No 1 paddleboarder takes top Central Otago honour
WANAKA paddleboarder Annabel Anderson capped off a stellar 2017 when she was named the supreme winner at the Central Otago Sports Awards in Wanaka at the weekend.
She also beat tough competition to be named the senior sportswoman of the year, before taking out the supreme title and winning the Bruce Grant Memorial trophy.
The awards were based on the 2017 sporting year, in which Anderson finished as the No 1 paddleboarder in the world — the first female to ever take the title.
Other achievements included winning the New Zealand national championships for the seventh consecutive year, as well as winning a host of international events and being nominated as a finalist in the Halberg Awards.
But her sporting successes were not just confined to paddleboarding, she also impressed on the mountain bike, winning the Bannockburn Classic Adventure Ride, the Red Bull Defiance race and The Gutbuster event.
Queenstown jet boater Mark Agnew took home the senior sportsman title after a 2017 in which he won the CX Class World Championship jetboat marathon and finished sixth overall.
The junior sportsman and sportswoman titles were won by Queenstown snowboarder Tiarn Collins and Wanaka snowboarder Zoi SadowskiSynnott respectively.
Both snowboarders were selected for this year’s Winter Olympics following impressive 2017 seasons which saw Tiarn consistently finish in the top 10 at international events, with Zoi winning three World Cup events and being named Snow Sports NZ Snowboarder of the Year and Snow Sports NZ Overall Athlete of the Year for 2017.
The Southern Stampede ice hockey team took home the team of the year title after a top season had it crowned national champion, while Wanaka snowboard coach Mitch Brown won the coach of the year award for his work with local snowboarders, including SadowksiSynnott.
The John Fitzharris Services to Sport Award was given to Cromwell’s Trevor Gaston for his contribution to the sport of touch for the past 35 years.