Lee Valley White Water Centre (previously known as Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre) is a white-water slalom centre, that was constructed to host the
canoe slalom
Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of t ...
events of the
London 2012 Olympic Games. On 9 December 2010,
Anne, Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...
officially opened the venue which is owned by
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and was orginally managed by them as well, but since April 1st 2022, is now managed by
Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) under its "Better" brand. The £31 million ($50 million US) project to construct the centre finished on schedule and was the first newly constructed Olympic venue to be completed.
The Olympic canoe slalom competition was held from 29 July through 2 August. The venue also hosted the
2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships The 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were the 37th edition of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. The event took place from 15 to 20 September 2015 in London, United Kingdom, under the auspices of International Canoe Federation (ICF), ...
.
Venue
The venue is located between the towns of
Waltham Cross
Waltham Cross is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, located north of central London. In the south-eastern corner of Hertfordshire, it borders Cheshunt to the north, Waltham Abbey to the east, and Enfield to the sou ...
in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...
and
Waltham Abbey in
Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
. The site is just outside the northern boundary of
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness
Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...
and {{convert, 9, mi, km north-west of the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in
Stratford, east London. It is in the heart of
River Lee Country Park which is part of the {{convert, 10000, acre, km2, adj=on, {{convert, 26, mi, km, adj=on long
Lee Valley Park
Lee Valley Regional Park is a long linear park, much of it green spaces, running through the northeast of Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire from the River Thames to Ware, through areas such as Stratford, Clapton, Tottenham, Enfi ...
.
[London2012.com venue page]
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101021409/http://www.london2012.com/games/venues/lee-valley-white-water-centre.php , date=1 January 2011 The venue opened in late 2010 offering canoeing and rafting activities to the public ahead of the London
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...
.
The venue has a purpose-built
slalom course for the Olympic white-water canoe events (flatwater canoeing and kayaking events took place at
Dorney Lake
Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...
, west of London). The main competition channel is an international- and Olympic-standard 300-metre canoe and kayak slalom course. It and the shorter warm-up course empty into the warm-up and cool-down lake. The white water is created by a system of pumps which lift water into the two start pools. All of the water contained in the system is slightly chlorinated in order to retain water quality.
[Planning green light for London 2012 Canoe / Kayak slalom venue]
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204021143/http://www.london2012.com/news/media-releases/2008-10/planning-green-light-for-london-2012-canoe-kayak-slalom-venue.php , date=4 December 2008 London2012.com Press Release, 1 October 2008 During the Games, temporary seating was installed around the venue for 12,000 spectators.
The 300-metre competition course has a drop of 5.5 metres
[Construction underway on 2012 canoe slalom venue]
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608162211/http://www.london2012.com/press/media-releases/2009/07/construction-underway-on-london-2012-canoe-slalom-venue-as-oda-completes-lat.php , date=8 June 2011 London2012.com Press Release, 3 July 2009 (18 ft), for an average slope of 1.8% (18 m/km or 95 ft/mile) and a pump-powered streamflow of 13 cubic metres per second (460 cubic feet per second). The intermediate/warm-up course is 160 metres long with a drop of 1.6 metres and flow of 10.5 cubic metres per second.
A 10,000-square-metre lake, filled with groundwater, supplies the water for the pumps. Lee Valley Regional Park Authority hope to bring in up to £45,000 per day from visitors to offset the energy cost of pumping the water.
The course is sited within a new landscaped parkland setting, including path and bridge networks to enable spectators to have access and view the events. A new facility building houses reception, café, changing rooms, shop, offices, spectator viewing, equipment storage and water pump and filtration facilities.
Pre-Games use
Lee Valley White Water Centre was the only brand new London 2012 venue available for public use before the Games. On 8 September 2012 it became the first London 2012 venue to reopen to the public. The centre is intended to provide canoeing and rafting activities for users of all abilities who will be able to take advantage of the Olympic and intermediate course.
[Lee Valley White Water Centre Information Page]
Retrieved 4 October 2010 The venue is owned, funded and managed by
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority; it will join the other London 2012 venues – the
Velopark,
Hockey Centre and Tennis centre at
Eton Manor – that the Park Authority will also own, fund and manage in legacy.
Gate maps for 2012 Olympics
Two gate sets were used for the Olympic Games, one for the first two days (left) and another for the last three days (right). Each gate set had six upstream gates (red numbers), but gate #12 of the first set was a flush gate with the second pole directly downstream of the first. Paddlers entered gate #12 from the left wall side and exited into the main current. Gate #18 of the second set was a downstream flush gate, with entrance from the flow and exit into the eddy. A 90-degree right turn direct from #18 to #19 was faster than the 270-degree eddy spin used by many contenders. All the gates were double-pole. There was no use of single-pole gates.
Olympic Results.
Post-Games use
The venue opened again to the public after the Games as part of the Olympic Legacy Works. Spectator seating was removed and the venue returned to providing a leisure attraction for canoeing and white-water rafting and a competition venue for elite events, to be managed by
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.
[New Canoeing venue in Broxbourne confirmed for the London 2012 Olympic Games]
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720160840/http://www.london2012.com/news/media-releases/2008-04/new-canoeing-venue-in-broxbourne-confirmed-for-the-london-2012-olympic-games.php , date=20 July 2008 London2012.com Press Release, 16 April 2008 In April 2011 it was confirmed that the centre would host the
2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships The 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were the 37th edition of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. The event took place from 15 to 20 September 2015 in London, United Kingdom, under the auspices of International Canoe Federation (ICF), ...
.
A£6.3 million redevelopment project was completed in February 2014 leading to the creation of new visitor facilities and new offices and training base for the GB Canoe Slalom team.
Design
The main facility building is designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects. The canoe course is located within a wider parkland setting designed by U.S.-based landscape architects
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. White-water course specialists Whitewater Parks International, working with civil and structural engineers
Cundall, are the designers of the white-water courses. Indigo Planning were the planning consultants and managed the preparation of the Environmental Statement. Stage D of the design process was completed by Morrison Construction The Team o
S2o Design and Engineeringan
Engineering Paddler Designscompleted the detail design of the white-water channel itself. The detail design of the white-water channel involved the creation of a 1:10 Froude scaled physical model that resulted in numerous changes to the initial white-water channel design. One of these changes was the conceptualization, design and implementation of the RapidBlocs Obstacle system. Th
RapidBlocssystem allows course operators to reconfigure the placement of boulders, eddies, and rapids to meet design objectives. S2o and EPD were further responsible for course tuning and commissioning.
Following nomination from
Broxbourne Borough Council
Broxbourne is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Hoddesdon, in the Broxbourne district, in Hertfordshire, England, north of London, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 It is ...
, Lee Valley White Water Centre won a special commendation at the 2011 Hertfordshire Building Futures Awards in recognition of the excellence of its design in meeting the needs of the sport, and the understated addition it makes to its parkland setting.
The centre has also won or been shortlisted for the following awards: 2012 winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects East Spirit of Ingenuity Award; 2012 winner of Secured by Design Award; 2011 Essex Tourism Awards (shortlisted) Best Large Attraction and Best Tourism Experience.
Transport
Road
The site is located just off the
A121 road, with easy access from the
A10 road
This is a list of roads designated A10. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order.
* A010 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Chubut Province
* ''A10 road (Australia)'' may refer to :
** ''A10 highway (South Australia ...
, and junctions 25 and 26 of the
M25 motorway
The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...
.
Rail
Rail access to the site is via
Cheshunt and
Waltham Cross
Waltham Cross is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, located north of central London. In the south-eastern corner of Hertfordshire, it borders Cheshunt to the north, Waltham Abbey to the east, and Enfield to the sou ...
railway stations on the
West Anglia Main Line, with frequent services from
Stratford, near the main Olympic site, and
Liverpool Street.
Theobalds Grove railway station, on the
Lea Valley Lines, is nearby.
Bus
Arriva Herts and Essex operates services 66,86,251 which pass close to the venue. Other bus routes run by
Transport for London and
Intalink
Intalink is the organisation responsible for organising the management of public transport services, such as buses and trains, in Hertfordshire on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council. They design, create and promote cross-operator multi-journ ...
stop at the nearby bus station in Waltham Cross town centre.
Timetable
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004102013/http://londonbusroutes.net/times/250_240_255.htm , date=4 October 2012 Retrieved 27 July 2012
Cycle and pedestrian
The Lee Navigation towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport w ...
forms part of the Lee Valley Walk and the National Cycle Route 1 is adjacent to the venue.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
{{Commons category, Lee Valley White Water Centre
Lee Valley White Water Centre
Official Site
Water Turned On
Opening Day
''London Evening Standard'': "Rapids of Rockies come to Herts for 2012 Olympic canoeists"
FaulknerBrowns Architects
2015 World Championships
* 2012 Olympic competition results
2014 World Cup #1 K-1 Finals
2015
Full video of Olympic competition
K-1 & C-1 Men Heats, Sunday, 29 July 2012.
K-1 Women Heats 1st Run, Monday, 30 July 2012.
K-1 Men Final, Thursday, 2 August 2012.
K-1 Men Gold and Silver Medalists, split screen.
K-1 Women Final, Thursday, 2 August 2012.
C-2 Men Final, Thursday, 2 August 2012.
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Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics
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Lee Valley Park
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Sports venues in Hertfordshire
Waltham Cross