SLIDESHOW: World's best canoeists give Lee Valley White Water Centre the thumbs up

The London Canoe Slalom International event at Waltham Cross

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COMPETITORS, coaches and officials from around the world have given the Lee Valley White Water Centre the thumbs up as the venue staged a dry run for the Olympics in just under a year’s time.

The London Canoe Slalom International event was held behind closed doors to the general public but the Mercury was one of a handful of media organisations allowed inside.

In front of a crowd of a couple hundred specially invited local people, including a group of students from John Warner School, Hoddesdon, the world’s best athletes got their first taste of the course which will host the canoe slalom event in the 2012 Olympics.

The action at the Waltham Cross venue was spectacular and thrilling in equal measure, and standing just a few metres away from the canoeists who were stretching every sinew in their bodies to impress was a memorable experience.

These may only have been the heats, but the challenging course certainly sorted out the men from the boys, with the number one in the world, Peter Kauzer of Slovenia, caught out on a tricky section at the top of the run as he incurred a couple of time penalties.

The two German paddlers, Alexander Grimm and Hannes Aigners also performed well, while Great Britain’s Campbell Walsh made it through to Sunday’s semi-finals.

Walsh said: “I haven’t heard a single complaint about anything. All the competitors say it’s a terrific course, and pretty hard. Massive respect has to go to some of these foreign guys. It’s their first time here and they’re doing good runs already.

“My first run was pretty good apart from the fact I touched a couple of poles which was a bit frustrating, I only hit one gate in the second run but it was a bit of an average day for me.

“You have to remember this isn’t a major race. Win this and you won’t get a title. It’s the one next year that’s most important.”   

GB canoe head coach Jurg Gotz said: “All the coaches are very positive about the course. One of the Australian team leaders said the other day ‘we could have the Olympics Games here tomorrow’ and there was lot of nodding around the room we were in.

“I’ve had some very good feedback from my collegues around the world. The only comment they are making is there are a lot of stoppers (white bits where the water comes back on itself) on the course and that it’s really tough.

“Well my answer to that is what sort of course is it? Well it’s the Olympic course so it is going to be very tough.

“I think this is the best ever start of an Olympic campaign of any Olympic courses we have had so far.”

Of the One Year to Go celebrations Gotz said: “We have to put it into perspective it is a big hype, we can’t get too carried away. We still have a lot of steps to go.

“This is a fantastic competition for us, we will get a feeling of where we stand with the other countries on this course and so far we have not been disappointed.”

For Richard Fox, vice-president of the International Canoe Federation, this test event has proved an emotional affair. He grew up in Harpenden and went to school in St Albans, and as a youngster trained on the River Lea at Wheathampstead and also at Dobbs Weir, just down the road from the White Water Centre.

He said: “This is a bit of a homecoming for me having lived in France and now Australia.

“When I was paddling at Dobbs Weir all those years ago I could never have imagined one day we would have the Olympics and the White Water Centre here. It’s amazing it’s actually happened.

“I’ve talked to the teams and athletes and it’s pretty clear they think it’s an excellent course. I think it’s the best competition course and Olympic venue we’ve ever had and it’s fit for purpose.

“Maybe there will need to be some fine tuning but I’ve no doubt it will be a sensational event at the Olympics and a very high standard of competition for those lucky enough to be selected.”