Tyne Valley Canoe Club held its first slalom for almost 17 years this weekend at Tyne Riverside Country Park. The first slalom to be held on the Tyne at Prudhoe was held back in October 1987 with the club continuing to run an event twice yearly for a further 4 years. Tyne Valley Canoe Club hosting the event recently received Sport England’s Clubmark award and Canoe England’s Top Club award for demonstrating that they are a well managed child friendly safe and equitable club that supports it’s members and other clubs within the region.

This is inactivity of competitions is what spurred the committee within Tyne Valley club to do something about it. Slalom events in the North have depleted over the years and now the North East region are attempting to address the problem by running introductory level short course events consisting of 12 gates with a simplified but effective method of judging.

The course was planned and put in place above and below Ovingham Bridge on Saturday in a record time of 3hrs with free practice available for competitors once final adjustment had been made.

Medals and certificates were awarded to winners and runners up but all competitors received an event certificate and a swim bag containing lots of useful prizes donated by both Northumberland Sport County Sports Partnership and Sport England North East.

But the events can never take place without the most important people - the volunteers who give up their valuable time to do all the hard work before and after the event. They each received thank you certificates and a swim bag for their efforts.

The event was not hugely supported but those that did compete found the event challenging with a very tight course demanding speed, skill and manoeuvrability to go through each gate in the correct direction and order cleanly without clipping the gates. The weather played its part in making the course more difficult with strong gusts swinging the gates. The rain stayed off and the water levels were perfect for this level of competition.
The event organiser Ray Hudspith who works as a National Development Officer for Canoe England would like to thank all the competitors, volunteers and organisations who supported the event including Northumberland County Council Country Parks section for the use of the building during the event. The building, park and river is a tremendous asset to Prudhoe and the canoe club and is a fantastic facility for running Paddlesport type events. The park building will be used again next week when many of the Tyne Valley members will attend a first aid course to develop coaches and volunteers and ensure all of its members are safe when participating in club activities.      slalom_results_07.pdf