The Lee Valley White Water Centre has been built near Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire and will host the Canoe Slalom events during the Olympic Games.

Before and after 2012, the venue will be owned and operated by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) as a sporting and leisure facility for canoeing and white water rafting, as well as a major competition and training venue. The venue will open to the public for rafting and canoeing in April 2011 delivering an early legacy over a year before the Games begin.

The Lee Valley White Water Centre includes funding from Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the East of England Development Agency, and Sport England, which played a key role in funding the legacy facilities at the venue. The ODA started construction in July 2009 and work has now been completed, making it the first brand new 2012 venue to be finished.

The venue was unveiled today by HRH The Princess Royal, joined by LOCOG Chair Seb Coe, ODA Chairman John Armitt, Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson and LVRPA Chairman Derrick Ashley. A number of Team GB canoeists also attended the event to try out the Olympic competition course for the first time.

Campbell Walsh, Olympic silver medallist in Canoe Slalom said: 'It’s hugely exciting to test the rapids at the new Lee Valley White Water Centre for the first time. The course looks great and I'm sure it will make a spectacle of a race for the Olympic Games.'

Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman John Armitt said: 'The completion of the White Water Centre - on budget and over 18 months before the Games - is a huge milestone. As the first brand new 2012 venue we have finished, it is a clear sign of the early legacy the Games are already delivering.

'Seeing canoeists and rafters use the courses for the first time gives us a glimpse of the excitement we can expect here in 2012 and the world-class new facilities that people of all ages and abilities will be able to use for many years to come.'

Seb Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: 'This is another great story. Our vision has always been to use the power of the Games to inspire change and this is another world-class venue that would not have been built without Britain staging the Games. With the centre open to the public both before and after the thrilling action at Games time, it really does demonstrate the great legacy that London 2012 will leave for users, from elite athletes to kids from local communities.'

Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said: 'The Lee Valley White Water Centre is an excellent example of the benefits London 2012 has brought to the UK. The construction of this purpose-built site has created business and employment opportunities. This is now a major competition and training venue for elite athletes, while the public rafting and canoeing facilities will bring more new people to the sport and help leave a legacy from hosting the Games.'

Derrick Ashley, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority Chairman, said: 'It’s a hugely exciting time as we prepare to open the doors to this world class venue. Tickets are on sale now for white water rafting and from April 2011 members of the public can experience adrenalin-pumping white water on the same course that will be used by the world’s best athletes.

'We will ensure that the venue is used by everyone from elite athletes to schools, sports clubs and community groups and the Centre will join our existing award-winning sports venues to become an integral part of the Lee Valley destination for active sport and leisure.'

Professor William Pope, Chair of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), said: 'EEDA's £4 million investment into Lee Valley’s White Water Canoe Centre has increased the scale and flexibility of this world-class venue, thereby almost doubling the number of people who will be able to access and enjoy the Centre after the Games.

'This brand new venue will be on the world stage come summer 2012. But the long-term economic and social benefits of Lee Valley will be felt for decades to come – boosting Hertfordshire’s tourist trade before, during and after the Games, giving members of the public the opportunity to try out a thrilling new sport, while providing a venue fit to host future European and World Championships.'

Paul Owen, Chief Executive British Canoe Union, said: 'We now have in Britain the best white water stadium in the world and we look forward providing a sensational event for the 2012 Olympic Games in a venue with a lasting legacy.'

Charles Johnston, Sport England's Property Director, said: 'As a world-class sporting facility available to people of all abilities throughout the community both before and long after the Games, the White Water Centre is a clear sign of things to come as we deliver a lasting legacy from London 2012. The Centre's completion marks a major milestone on the road to the mass participation legacy and is another example of how our National Lottery funding is opening up grassroots sporting opportunities.'

Lee Valley White Water Centre factfile:

Venue facilities
The Lee Valley White Water Centre is located in the heart of the 10,000-acre Lee Valley Regional Park, on a 10-hectare site covering an area the equivalent of 25 full-size football pitches. Facilities include:

-    An Olympic standard 300m competition course, with a boat conveyor to transport participants to the course start in their rafts or canoes.
-    A 160m intermediate/training course. The intermediate course will help create an inclusive and comprehensive sports programme in legacy from novice paddler through to elite competitors.
-    Finish lake covering an area of 10,000m2 (1 hectare/2.5 acres).
-    A facility building and pumping house, containing a reception, café, changing rooms, offices, spectator viewing facilities, storage, and water pump/filtration plant.
-    Landscaping works, with path and bridge networks throughout the venue to facilitate spectator viewing and access.
-    World-class white water conditions. The key course features are two drops and a straight run of continuous white water.

Games time
-    There will be five days of Canoe Slalom competition for Olympic events.
-    The 300m competition course will be used for Olympic events and the 160m intermediate course will be used for training / warm-up.
-    During the Games, temporary seating will be installed around the venue for approximately 12,000 spectators.
-    82 competitors will compete in four events with four sets of medals.
-    The race course design is prepared by an international group of three officials.

The sport
-    Canoeing is the fastest-growing water sport in the UK with 1.2 million participants.  
-    2010 was a record-breaking medal winning year for GB canoeing across its disciplines of Marathon, Sprint, Slalom, Polo, Freestyle and White Water racing.

Legacy
-    The Lee Valley White Water Centre will be used for Games training and testing in early 2011 and will open to the public for rafting and canoeing in April 2011.
-    After the Games, the temporary spectator seating will be removed, and the venue will be developed into the Lee Valley White Water Centre.
-    It will be a major leisure attraction for canoeing and white water rafting as well as a venue for future international competition and sports development opportunities
-    Further details are available at www.gowhitewater.co.uk

Venue construction:
-    The ODA started construction work on the venue in July 2009 and there were more than 150 workers on site at peak of construction activity.
-    Over 150,000 cubic metres of material was put in place to form the canoe course embankments and the venue landscaping – enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall.
-    Five water pumps installed on the Olympic course each weighing 5 tonnes.
-    62 gates installed on the Olympic course and 1200 rapid blocs installed as obstacles on the Olympic and intermediate courses.
-    The facilities will be joined by extensive new landscaping, plants and wildlife habitats that will help improve the sustainability and ecology of the local area.
-    Sustainability elements in the venue design include capturing and reusing heat from the pumps to heat the venue buildings; providing two flexible courses where only one course need run at any time in legacy; and water from both channels being recycled and fed back into the lake.

Notes to Editors:

1.    Images of the Lee Valley White Water Centre and today’s unveiling can be downloaded from http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr144525332

2.    The Lee Valley White Water Centre will now be owned and operated by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA). For future media enquiries about the venue please contact the LVRPA media team – Jackie Tolland jtolland@leevalleypark.org.uk; 01992 709 933 or Michelle Rosenberg mrosenberg@leevalleypark.org.uk; 01992 709 830.

3.    The construction of the Lee Valley White Water Centre includes funding from Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and Sport England.

4.    The Lee Valley White Water Centre was built by Morrison Construction.

5.    Tickets for white water rafting at the Lee Valley White Water Centre are available to purchase

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