BUCS Slalom

4am on a Friday morning my alarm sounds, the abnormality of this does not phase me as I gather my consciousness and head out the door. I’m down for the Glenside pickup, they are there waiting for me. Motivation is high the tunes start pumping as fast as the miles cruise by. Our destination, the North, more accurately, Teesside White Water Course for the British University & College Sports (BUCS) Canoe Slalom Championships. Our team was small but selected with specific attributes for this was the first time UWE Canoe Club had attended such an event and the pressure to not only succeed but dominate came from within hearts. The drive was long, “can we stop?” I’m asked, “Stop? Why stop when there is a competition to win?” Over 300 miles later we stop as we arrive at our destination.

A quick stop at the upper River Tees to warm up before the main event was needed. The team psyched up and got on to the river with snow on the banks. An hour later and some impressive rapids and waterfalls had been run. Everyone was ready for the main event.

Canoe Slalom is the complex event which is most commonly seen on the Olympics where the canoeists and kayakers have to negotiate through both downstream and upstream gates on white water rapids. UWE has never before been part of one of these competitions so we felt training was in order, prior to the weekend we had done extensive training but we arrive early for some high altitude site specific exercises. Coach Haines needed no motivational speeches; the team was fired up and ready to go.

Friday night we stayed in the students version of the Olympic village, fuelling our prime with abundant calories for the start of competition. Saturday saw the men’s kayak races and the team event. A cautious start from most on their first run then full throttle on their second then sit back and wait for the results. Great runs were put in by Small Paul SU Sports Vice-President and the others in the team chased the time he set. A solid performance from the 3 top boaters in the team was great to watch and scored us some good points.

Saturday night was party night; the men having completed their competition for the weekend the boys could relax. We hold a great deal of pride while representing UWE at such an events, therefore we felt that the best way to represent the West was to dress up as a team of morris dancers, loosely following the theme of knights and damsels by representing the only ever knighted Morris dancer Norris Winstone! Fact. As we arrived at the party we saw the days results, we’re placed 8th out of all the Universities. We were surprised to see the good results from the day had meant we had gathered 3 BUCS points! This was fantastic, time to celebrate. Much merriment has had and in true form UWE got the party started and were the last ones to leave the dance floor.

Sunday morning we arose blurry, and headed out of the village for the final time. The ladies took to the water and had some fantastic runs which scored highly. The courageous effort from Bryan, who has never paddled a river before, was noted by all! That afternoon was the time for the canoe races, unfortunately we don’t have the right equipment for these and although Chris Mountford put in a valiant effort he simply could not compete. Disappointingly this resulted in our position falling to 16th. However being 16th best University in a competition that we lack equipment, facilities and experience is still a notable achievement in our eyes. The entire team would relish the opportunity to return bigger and better next year! Bring it on!

Thanks to the SU for supporting our entry and to Joe for all the encouragement and organisation!