Dylan Littlehales is a Para Canoe/ Kayak paddler and Paralympian who was awarded a Tier 2 Scholarship within the 2021 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Dylan was born in Gosford, NSW, in 1999 and started paddling at age 14 under the guidance of his uncle, a head coach of the Australian canoe slalom team. Dylan competes in the KL3 classification due to a rare limb deficiency in his right leg called congenital fibula hemimelia, which he acquired at birth.
After just a year in the sport, Dylan debuted for Australia at the 2015 International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint and Para-canoe World Championships in Italy. He recorded a top eight finish in the B final of the kayak KL3, despite being three years younger than any other competitor.
A silver medal at the Rio Paralympic trials in 2016 earned Dylan a place on the Australian team for his first Paralympic Games and he finished sixth in Rio in his heat. He then finished fifth at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in 2017, and won a bronze medal at the world championships a year later.
Another strong performance at the 2019 world championships, where he finished fourth, earned him his second opportunity to represent Australia at the Paralympic Games.
“It is a tremendous honour for myself to become a part of the SAHOF family and be recognised for my achievement on and off the water. I look forward to taking my performance to the next level with the support of SAHOF.” – Dylan Littlehales on being selected as a 2021 Tier 2 Scholarship Holder.
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2018: Paracanoe World Championships – 5th
- 2018: Paracanoe World Cup – bronze
- 2018: World Cup – bronze
- 2016: Rio Paralympic Games – Representative
- 2019: Paracanoe World Championships – 4th
- 2019: Paracanoe World Cup – 4th
- 2019: Oceania Championships – gold
- 2020 (2021): Tokyo Paralympic Games – 4th
- 2021: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 2
