Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race took place over the Easter weekend with 19 students from our Sixth Form taking part.

108 miles paddled

77 portages run

2 nights camping under the stars

19 new DW medals earned

19 new names on the Honours Board

Many a sandwich, brownie and energy gel consumed

Plenty of smiles and some tears (especially from our amazing parents, family and support

crews)

Over £3000 raised for Prostate Cancer UK

Incredible stuff from our amazing students!

Here is what one half of the dynamic Harris duo had to say:

‘DW is one of the best opportunities LWC offers its students, and I feel so immensely honoured to have been part of the experience. The training programme and community spirit this event requires provides so much more than just preparation for the race. While the long paddling sessions and the repetitive process of falling into freezing cold water at the start of the programme cultivates character traits like perseverance and determination, elements of kindness, exemplified when someone offers to tie up another person’s kayak on a dark cold evening after they have fallen in the canal, or cooking someone else dinner on the DW race demonstrates the strong feeling of comradeship the kayaking team create during the training process. The race itself was a phenomenal experience. You use the skills from training to not only power through physical turmoil, but “dig deep”, and overcome mental challenges too. Something else to note is how unique the LWC support team are. The enthusiasm from the parents and other side-line supporters provide a real uplift to the paddlers, and our school’s system in which parents support and feed everyone in the team, not just their own, develops a real sense of community. There are two morning gym sessions starting at 7am, in addition to the three paddling sessions and one afternoon paddling machine session in the gym each week. Wednesdays encompass a long paddle, whereas Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings focus on technique and sprints. From a female perspective, I feel the morning gym sessions were also quite empowering, as they introduce students to different training exercises and teach you how to train with the correct technique so that you can confidently use the gym without much risk of injury. I will be carrying forward the lessons I’ve learned with me onto university, and life beyond education.’

Rianna H

Thank you so much to Mr Lovell, Miss Mobbs, all the support crew and our fantastic LWC parents and families for helping make this event one to remember!