Olympics Day 3 Lee Valley Slalom Canoe

Today was our long awaited Olympic experience at the Lee Valley white water rafting centre to watch the slalom canoeing. The boys were getting just as excited as I was for our first ever Olympic experience. So the day started early with Joshua and Brandon getting suited and booted in their all new Team GB outfits including Union Jack cloaks and tattoos.

Team GB supporters at the tender age of just 3 & 4.

Rear view showing their Union Jack cloaks.

The day out was completely amazing, I cannot begin to describe just how well organised the whole event was and the atmosphere once we got there. After a drive to North Weald airport for our park and rise service we boarded the Olympic double decker bus for our short transfer to Lee Valley. 

Our Olympic Nr.41 bus.

Brandon looking out of the bus window counting the Olympic buses passing on the other side of the road.

After about an hour and a half total travel we arrived at Lee Valley and the adventure begins....

Security was very tight and thorough, but all of the soldiers and police were very friendly and were interacting with the children which was a nice touch. After a little walk around to familiarise ourselves with the surrounding we located our seating block for the days activities.



This was our block 101 where we were to be seated for the event, row 26, seats 101-104.



Brandon and Joshua getting comfy in their seats before the crowds arrive.

Our view from the seats was absolutely stunning considering our tickets were relatively cheap ones. We were right in front of the start pool/line and had a perfect view of the first 8 gates. We could then see right across to about Gate 18 at which point we had to revert to the big screen for the final 4 gates. The arena was completely packed today and I am sure I heard them say there was 12,000 people in attendance which is pretty amazing really.



The start pool/line.





The initial drop down to Gate 1.

The view down to the first bend at Gate 8.

A nice picture of me and Brandon with the white water in the back ground.

The atmosphere once the event started was just amazing. The PA system and commentary was phenomenal. The crowd got behind every single canoeist that took to the course, but when team GB came out the place just erupted. Their were flags flying, everyone shouting, feet stomping - it was deafening. The boys absolutely loved it and got right into the spirit of things with shouting, stomping and flag waving.

And he we go all ready at the start line, Team GB in the C2 men's pairs.

And this is a shot of the Team GB ladies C1 entrant who finished 2nd overall.

Team GB head into Gate 1. Both Team GB men's C2 teams qualified for the semi finals. So a good days work for team GB.

Once the canoeist was out of sight we reverted to the big screen to watch the action.

I am so pleased that we have been able to provide Joshua and Brandon with this opportunity at such a young age. Hopefully they have learnt a lot today and will remember as much as possible from the day. To think this is Brandon's first ever Olympics since he has been born and he has been able to attend an event, how cool is that. Joshua was born just before Beijing in 2008 but obviously will not remember anything about that Olympics. 

Two happy boys enjoying their first ever Olympic experience.

Brandon and Mummy cheering on Team GB.

All smiles again.

Given that the event started at 1:30 and ran on until gone 5:00 I had no expectations of being able to keep the boys sat down and entertained by canoe slalom for that longer period of time. We took along some munchies, their Innotab/Mobigo, some drawing material and stickers and their toy Olympic taxi's to help keep them entertained. Overall they did extremely well. At times they were a little restless but they managed to sit through two rounds of the men's C2 class and 1 round of the women's C1 class. I never expected them to last that long. So in all we only missed the second round of the women's event.

This is the big screen which showed all the actions, replays, score boards, times, positions etc. So all the info we needed was right in front of us. 

Team GB men's C2 rowers.



Team GB women's C1 entrant.

Brandon holding a banana in one hand and then single hand clapping with my other hand!

Quality time off with my boys!



A family picture at Lee Valley Olympics.

So our Olympic adventure finishes and I now can't wait until the next time we get to go out on our inflatable kayak. I just hope the boys don't expect me to start looking for some white water to make our kayaking a bit more adventurous. The boys were absolutely amazed at the speed of the water and were curious whether anyone could swim in it. I seem to recall the commentators saying something like 13 tonnes of water flows down the course every minute or something ridiculous like that. We managed to see only one canoeist capsize throughout the whole day, but several ended up sideways and out of shape on a few occasions. Lee Valley is a brutal course, but a stunning venue, and a great day out.