Equestrian, hockey and golf take home top prizes at the Royal Navy Sports Awards
Royal Navy showjumper Chief Petty Officer Amy Taylor and hockey player Lieutenant Rich Jenkin have scooped the top accolades at the Royal Navy Sports Awards, which took place inside the Long Room at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
CPO Amy Taylor took home the Sportswomen of the Year award after successfully completing her most successful showjumping season to date.
Along with her horse, Clara, CPO Taylor became the first Royal Navy showjumper to compete for Great Britain on the international stage at the Peelbergen Tour in Holland, as well as being selected for the UK Armed Forces Showjumping Team.
Reacting to her win, CPO Taylor said: "It's been an amazing year for myself and for the equestrian team, so I'm really proud.
"It's one of those accumulations of 10 years in the making. It's always been a dream to compete internationally for me, so this year I had my first opportunity, and it's all due to the support of the Royal Navy, the Talented Athletes Scheme, which led me to achieve it and, obviously, the amazing team behind Royal Navy Equestrian."
Hockey player Lt Rich Jenkin took home the Sportsman of the Year award after he took charge as the Royal Navy's player-manager-coach after these roles were left vacant.
Under his leadership, he led the Royal Navy Masters to an 8-1 win over the Army, with every goal being scored by himself. He captained the England Over-35 squad in the 2024 Masters World Cup in Cape Town, where the team beat the hosts in the final.
Lt Jenkin said: "I think it's great. I think that Royal Navy Hockey has got such a long way to come; we've got a new manager coming in and hopefully a new coach, lots of young talent.
"So hopefully some of the old guys can move into the masters a bit more regularly. I think it's a really exciting time to push a really strong Army and a legacy RAF team."
The Royal Navy men's gold team were already announced as the Team of the Year ahead of the ceremony, following their historic milestone by winning the 2025 Inter Services outright for the first time in 23 years.
ITF Taekwondo athlete Able Rate Robbie Sheppard was named Young Sportsperson of the Year following an outstanding year, including becoming British champion in Blackbelt Middleweight Sparring.
Coach of the Year went to Rugby Union's Chief Petty Officer (AET) Dave Pascoe, who coached the Navy men to victory at the Inter Service championships earlier this year.
The award for Sports Official of the Year went to Lieutenant Commander Adam Coomer, who was instrumental in revitalising Royal Navy and UK Armed Forces Aquatics after the sport suffered disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The winners will go on to join the top sports stars from the British Army and RAF at the UKAF Sports Awards in April next year.
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