U Canoe Unleashed LAUNCHED

Olympic heroes and recently helped celebrate the launch of U Canoe Unleashed on a sunny day at the University of . The pair met with students who were taking part in U Canoe activity and even got on the water to try their hand at a range of the Unleashed activities. Various partners from Nottinghamshire and representatives from other Universities attended the day to nd out a bit more about U Canoe and to see it in action. The aim now is to sign up as many Universities as possible to start delivering the programme.

Luke from the Canoe Polo team who helped organise the day said “U Canoe has been a great way to introduce new people to the sport without scaring them away with competition and river trips. It really helps to build their con dence and is the perfect stepping stone before joining the club”.

The University of Nottingham has been running U Canoe Unleashed sessions through their NU2 Sport Programme to try and increase the number of students participating in the sport and to increase numbers at their Canoe Polo Club and Canoe/Kayak Club. In addition to the water activity the University has also made use of the indoor version of the programme - U Canoe Wired. This part of the project enables Universities to loan two indoor kayaking machines for a period of 6 or 12 weeks to increase the awareness of the sport by taking kayaking to the students. The machines can be set up in the halls of residence, in the cafe or virtually anywhere the students want! Tim Baillie, Olympic Gold medallist 2012

Emma Baker from the University said “U Canoe was really easy to get going and since starting the programme we have seen a number of students join our Polo and Canoe club and it ts in with the NU2 Sport programmes aims very well”

British Canoeing are also looking to pilot six Higher Education Canoe Reps in Universities across . This voluntary role will see Reps increase participation in the sport by running and setting up canoeing activities at their University and delivering U Canoe will be a major part of this role.

To nd out more information on U Canoe please visit www.canoe-england.org.uk/UCanoe or contact [email protected].

Don’t forget you can follow U Canoe on Facebook and Twitter www.facebook.com/UCanoe @U_Canoe

Etienne Stott, Olympic Gold medallist London 2012

www.canoe-england.org.uk