London Canoe Slalom International Invitational Event 2011
On Friday 29th July 2011 I visited the Lee Valley White Water Centre to see the London Canoe Slalom International Invitational Event 2011, as a guest of Turnford Community Sports College, who are from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.
This, my first BT Storytellers article has been harder to compose than I thought, I like to take pictures, words do not flow from me with any great ease, my pictures usually tell my story, here I’ve tried to combine both, the word first and the pictures at the end.
The Turnford Group comprised of 25 pupils who all live within a few miles radius of the Lee Valley White Water Centre, they had been invited along to the closed event to spectate on the London Canoe Slalom Invitational Event by the London Prepares Team – all the pupils were either Part of the School’s Olympic Squad, Leadership Group or had been part of the group that had trekked 26 miles from the school in Mill Lane, Cheshunt to Trafalgar Square visiting the Olympic site en route to celebrate 400 days to go until the Olympic Games open in London 2012.
TURNFORD School has been named school of the month for July by the Get Set network, London 2012’s official education programme, for its commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic values.
The secondary school was selected on the basis of the activities that the students have been involved in and has received a letter of congratulations from Seb Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Staff and students will also receive a visit from an Olympic athlete next term as a reward for their efforts.
A spokesman for the school said: "We are very proud, to have been selected as the Get Set network school of the month for July 2011.
"We have been increasing the awareness of London 2012 with staff, pupils and the community by organising events to mark significant dates."
I’m lucky enough to have 3 of my children attending Turnford, and my eldest, Saskia is in the School Olympic Squad and is The Schools Sports Ambassador for the Year 2011-2012, and was to attend this event.
Mr Jon Nagle – Head of Community Sports at TCSC was leading the group visit had been made aware of my BT Storytelling and was kind enough to allow me to shadow the group for the event, and made available all the children for pictures and a few words if they so wished during the event.
The Event itself was the London Canoe Slalom International Invitational Event and consisted of Kayak Single K1 (Women) and Canoe Double C2 (Men) and consisted of athletes from as far afield as China, the USA, New Zealand, Uganda, GB and Slovakia. I felt privileged to see these talented athletes competing in their trials and eliminations and the whole Lee Valley White Water Centre was in immaculate condition for the event.
I wandered around observing the Marshalls, safety crews, security, and competitors all gearing up for their respective roles, as this was a test event for the Games in 2012 everyone was hoping that it would all go smoothly and the event would be a success. Of course it was. The competitors all completed their runs on the new and challenging course and all the marshals, judges and security staffs were very competent that it all flowed with no visible problems evident.
I managed, after taking pictures from every conceivable angle on the course to capture some of the Turnford Boys & Girls for a question or two about what London 2012 meant to them. I asked them following question.
‘Having a major Olympic Venue so close to where you live and go to school must be very exciting. What part of London 2012 excites you most?’
These are their answers:
Roberto, 15 – “Using the Olympic Park and seeing what is there when it’s opened.”
Matthew, 15 – “Seeing the Olympians achieve all they can and do really well.”
Mitchell, 15 – “Looking forward to showcasing our country to the outside world and all the tourists that will be here during the games.”
Ben, 14 – “Watching the Opening Ceremony, which will start the whole tone of the games to come.”
They were individually looking forward mostly to seeing the swimming and Football.
Rachel, 15 & Megan, 15 – “ It’s the once in a lifetime opportunity to hold the games, and being lucky enough to actually use one of the venues, the White Water Centre here in Lee Valley.”
They were looking forward to seeing the Gymnastics, Trampolining and the Diving. ( I think to see Tom Daley more than the event itself, I think the words, Buff, Hot & Peng were used, whatever they mean )
Saskia, 16 – “I’m looking forward to having all the international Competitors and tourists here in my home town, and looking forward to seeing anything here on the White Water Centre, and the athletics too.”
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