Nelo Kayaks host of the third World Paddle Awards ceremony at Montebelo Aquieira Lake Resort in 2017
Writer: Alyce Burnett - With a huge year ahead on the water, the 2017 World Paddle Awards (18-02-2017) promises to be one of the biggest yet and is sure to attract a star studded audience. The organisation is therefore very proud to announce Nelo Kayaks as the host of the third annual awards ceremony which will be held at Montebelo Aguieira Lake Resort & Spa, Portugal.
Nelo Kayaks and their CEO Andre Santos have proudly supported the World Paddle Awards since its inception in 2014 with them believing it is a great opportunity to recognise our athletes and the people involved in our sport.
“Once again it is an honour to be apart of such a big event and being hand to hand with such a good group of people that wants to keep paddlesports always moving forward,” Andre said.
With Portugal quickly becoming mecca of paddlesports, it is only fitting that the baton was to be passed onto them. When accepting the honour at the 2016 ceremony in Barcelona, Andre was visibly excited for what he and his team will present.
Andre Santos and Richard Fox about the 2017 World Paddle Awards in Portugal.
“Portugal has been putting in a lot of effort to become one of the centres for canoeing in the world and Nelo, the National Federation and a lot of other entities like the Olympic Committee are delighted to have such an opportunity to once more show the world that Portugal can receive and with Rob [Rob van Bommel, WPA President] and all of the team prepare something special for next year,” he said.
The inclusion of four new Olympic award categories on top of the exisiting eight categories will inevitably add additional excitement to the night and Andre promises it won’t disappoint.
“Last year we had one format, this year we had another format and next year it will probably be something in the middle of the two we had before. Not better or not worse, just different to what we have seen and we hope to see you there again next year.”
The event will bring together paddlesport athletes, officials and supporters from all over the world and recognise their amazing achievements from the 2016 season. Award nominations are scheduled to open later this year with the ceremony to be held 18 February 2017.