UWE Canoe Blog

Saltford

2010-10-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

The year has started off with a bang for UWE Canoe Club. Here are some photos from our trip to Saltford.
Everyone learned some skill, got stuck in and therefore had fun. The sun came out for us to enjoy a beer or two in the local pub aswell.

Christmas Break

2009-12-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

The Christmas break is here. For most of us this means heading home for a week or two. I thought I'd simply post a few photos to remind you of the last few months of 2009. We think 2010 we be a good one as I know there is lots planned.

Ladies Canoe Polo

2009-11-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday night the ladies attended a local Canoe Polo tournament. Only ladies teams were invited to the tournament. With so many paddle chicks in one place I thought I best go and take some photos.

Welsh International Canoe Polo

2009-08-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend a group of club members entered the Welsh International Canoe Polo Challenge. We won our first two games comfortably but then got shot down by the Royal Navy. Unfortunately that result placed us second in our group so we didn't go through to the top eight. However we won the rest of our games easily so placed 9th. The result was less important than the social aspect of the weekend. Far too many drinks were consumed as the team shredded the dance floors of Cardiff.

They think its all over...

2009-05-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

For many club at UWE the year is over, everyone does their exams and then they all disapear off to work for the summer. Not at the Canoe Club. The pool sessions are all over now until September but thats not going to stop us.

There was a trip to South Wales last weekend and we're planning another trip in the UK before we head off on our mighty summer tour of Europe.

Below is a picture of us acepting the 2008/09 'club of the year' shield presented by Shelly Rudman.

We are the champions!

2009-05-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yes it is true we are club of the year 08/09!

Cheers to all who have put in lots of help to make us the best club!

Some of the highlights of the year for me:

The carnage and amazing surf at Polzeath! A great birthday weekend!

The Gene17 adventure paddler weekend and Dart trip adventures!

BUCS Slalom one of the best weekends ever! We are the UWE Morris Dancing Society and represented proudly!

Having Doug Ammons come and talk at Uni.

And Getting 4 new boats, 6 new cags and boots from the SU!

All of this couldnt have been done without lots of effort from a lot of people so thank you all!

We are Varsity winners

2009-05-05T04:05:00.000-07:00

Every year the a select few of the University sports clubs challenge the University of Bristol to some games. We are one of these few clubs. Each year we build a Canoe Polo pitch in the middle of Bristol Docks and lay down the challenge. We generally invite some guest teams to come and fill out the day. It is a very friendly little tournament that we use to showcase the sport in the city center of Bristol. The sun came out as the giant crowd cheered us on. Our Alumni team took up the first Varsity match and won. The ladies then met their match, having previously beat UoB ladies unfortunately fell and lost by two goals. This put the pressure on the men, who norrowly won 2-1. The day it's self is fantastic and really shows how great the canoe club is. All other Varsities have alot of support from the Centre for Sport but we take this upon our selves and put on a good show for the public.

The picture below shows UWE's Kevin Roberts (in red) being congratulated by a Bristol Uni student (in blue).

I can't wait till next year.

2009-04-28T00:54:00.001-07:00

BUSC Canoe Polo

2009-04-28T00:17:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we took our anual trip North, up to Doncaster to play in BUSC (British Universities & College Sports) Canoe Polo. We were going as the underdogs with no previous ranking. Everyone had a great time. The sun was out all weekend and everybody enjoyed watching and joining the action. The Open team [Pony Club] came 11th, the Ladies [Polo Panthers] came 10th and the Old Boys [Pie Shop] came 5th.

On the Saturday night we (as always) got the party started.
Polo is a fantastic little sport that is mostly done in a nice warm swimming pool, to get into Canoe Polo you just need to learn the basic kayaking skills then come to our training sessions. We teach it all.

Easter break

2009-04-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

We've all been very busy over the easter break. Dissertation deadline, course work and placements have pinned many of us down.
There has been very little rain over the past few months here in the South West and thus unfortunately there has been no rivers to paddle. When it came to the Easter bank holiday I opted for a seakayaking trip, others went to Scotland and many made an obligatory trip home to see their old folks.

After this we concentrated on our Canoe Polo training for the mighty BUCS weekend.

Doug Ammons

2009-03-05T04:04:00.000-08:00

Doug Ammons who? Most people ask.

Doug is a famous paddler in the USA. He has pushed the boundaries of kayaking. Doug paddled solo the Stikine River in Canada. A river not to be taken lightly!

This trip has been compared to solo climbs of Everest and one of the greatest feats in the history of kayaking.

Doug is coming to our uni to talk about his life of paddling and talk about the solo run he has never spoken about publicly before.

Photo from Dave Manbys Website. http://www.davemanby.com/News.aspx

Dartmoor Weekend.

2009-03-05T03:51:00.000-08:00

We went to Dartmoor but paddled no fresh water!

It had not rained in weeks so the rivers were very low. Low rivers damage kit and damage people who swim!

On the Saturday we went and paddled the tidal Exe from Exeter to A remote pub towards Starcross.

Saturday afternoon we watched Englands attempt at rugby in the newly reopened local pub.

Much merryment was had on satuday night with various eating contests!

Sunday the polo nutters went off to play polo at Millfield. The rest of us caught some good surf on the North Devon coast at Saunton Sands. Some nice 2-3ft faces kept us entertained for a while.

Coffe and cake then home for curry and sleep!

Mr and Missis

Dart trip

2009-02-23T15:41:00.000-08:00

We are heading to Dartmoor this weekend.

No rain is forecast. The Dart will be low.

We will come up with a cool plan to keep everyone entertained!

Frome

2009-02-18T09:03:00.000-08:00

Today a small group from the club paddled down the river Frome. This section runs from Frenchay into Fishponds and is located just behind the St Matts and Glenside campuses of UWE. It is ideal to fill in an afternoon when you don't have lecture. I walked Max (my dog) down to take some picture.
Chris Montford leading the way.

Monty again putting down some hammer time.

Molly on one of the bigger drops

Jules shows us what an active blade can do.

Julia again showing fine form.

My dog, Max, wanted to get in all the pictures.

Dartmoor Day Trip Pics Part 2.

2009-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Team 1.

Birdseye view.

James styling it up.

Russ again. Upright.

Swimming Molly, as she said she wanted a picture of herself swimming!?! And not wearing Fursmans helmet!

We like again.

Russ trying to get a bit of air!

Molly.

Smile your on camera!

Lowri

Morse and Lowri

Feb Day trip to Dartmoor Part 1

2009-02-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

I took a few pics on todays day trip! Hope you all enjoyed it.

Smallio

Mike we like.

James.

Badger and Molly in the sunshine.

Cast that fishing line!

Molly.

Jules.

Tall showing some "form"

Jason.

This uni year so far!

2009-02-13T15:18:00.001-08:00

We've done a fair bit since september!

W'eve paddled and partied hard.

We've been to Saltford on Avon a few times.

We've been surfing in very sunny Cornwall.

We've been to Wales, and Exmoor then on to Dartmoor.

We've campaigned for a swimming pool at UWE.

We've been 'tup north boating on the Tees.

We've raced at Slalom!

We've played a bit of polo here and there!

I am sure I have missed a few things but thats a bit of a round of what we have been up to so far this uni year. Bring on more trips, some socials, spots awards and the ball.

Joe

Planning begins

2009-02-13T06:57:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday the 11th everyone squeezed into my front room for the only public viewing of my France video from 2007. This can't be found anywhere on the internet!

There is a breif preview here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsBL0QiEBos) but the full video will never apear outside of my house.

Everyone marvelled at the photos of previous trips and much laughter was had by all but then we got down to some serious conversation. The agreement was made to change the dates, decide on deadlines, and un-decide on location?!?

To see photos of previous years trip go to http://www.uwecanoe.com/ and select the photos tab. If you want to come on the trip this summer see the info here (http://www.canoe.4everweb.com/forum/index.php?topic=3807.0).

Below is my favorite photo from last year (because it of me doing something cool).

BUCS Slalom

2009-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-11T07:25:00.000-08:00