Canoe: Slalom Championships 2025-26

Saturday 21 – Sunday 22 February 2026

Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre, Adbolton Lane, Nottingham NG12 2LU

Tuesday 2 December 2025

Thursday 29 January 2026 at 23:59 – Team Entry Deadline

(Deadline for Open Classic Team Type 1 and Open Classic Team Type 2 teams to have been entered on BUCS Play by an Institution Administrator)

Tuesday 3 February 2026 at 23:59 – Student / Competitor Deadline

(Students / Competitors must apply to Individual AND Team Events by this deadline)

Thursday 5 February 2026 at 23:59 – Admin Approval Deadline

(Institutional Administrators are given 48 hours after the student / competitor deadline to approve entries and players to have been approved and assigned in a team by an Institution Administrator on BUCS Play)

This competition will NOT operate a staged entry process. As such, please ensure all entries are submitted through BUCS Play prior to the closing date listed above.

Individual Events (Female and Open K1, Female and Open C1, Female and Open Kayak Cross): £31

Individual Event - Open C2: £31 (£15.50 per person) BOTH individuals must enter on BUCS Play

Team Events (Open Classic Team Type 1 and Open Classic Team Type 2): £36

Individual Events

To apply for the competition all eligible competitors must follow these steps:

1. Competitor to apply to the event on BUCS Play (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
2. Institution administrator approves entry (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
3. BUCS approves/denies entry into competition and publishes confirmed entry list

Any data will be handled in accordance with BUCS Privacy Policy

By participating in this event you agree to adhere to BUCS General Event Disclaimer

To check whether you are eligible to compete in BUCS competitions, please visit REG 4 Individual Eligibility.

Team Events

To apply for this competition:

1. Entries will need to be submitted via the team entries section of our online entry system, BUCS Play (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
2. Please speak to your Institution Administrator as they will need to enter the correct number of teams for you.
3. Competitors then need to apply for the respective event. (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
4. Institution Administrators must assign competitors to the correct team during the approval process. (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)

Any data will be handled in accordance with BUCS Privacy Policy

By participating in this event you agree to adhere to BUCS General Event Disclaimer

To check whether you are eligible to compete in BUCS competitions, please visit REG 4 Individual Eligibility.

Institutions can request an unlimited number of non-guaranteed entries, however, should the event reach capacity BUCS may need to restrict the number of entries per institution. Therefore, when submitting entries on BUCS Play, entries should be ranked in order of preference of entry before being submitted e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4. Should BUCS need to restrict entries this will be done equally across institutions.

Additionally, entries for the C2 discipline must be ranked as pairs, based on who is competing together in a boat (e.g. 1, 1, followed by 2, 2 and so on). Please ensure BOTH competitors enter this event.

K1 (Female and Open) - All types of K1 kayak allowed

C1 (Female and Open) - All types of C1 closed-cockpit 1-person canoe allowed

C2 (Open) - All types of C2 closed-cockpit 2-person canoe allowed

Kayak Cross (Female and Open)

Open Classic Team Type 1

Open Classic Team Type 2

CAN 3.2.1 An Open Classic Team Type 1 team shall consist of three boats. Any combination of boat classes (K1/C1/C2) and gender of team members is permitted.

CAN 3.2.2 An Open Classic Team Type 2 team shall consist of three boats. Any combination of boat classes (K1/C1/C2) and gender of team members is permitted, with the exception that individuals assigned male at birth are not permitted to use a K1.

CAN 3.2.3 An individual competitor may only enter each team event once and if entering both the Open Classic Team Type 1 and Classic Open Team Type 2 events must use a different boat class in each.

Please note, Team events and the C2 event require all individuals in the team to enter and be approved by the institution administrator (e.g. all members of an open team must enter that discipline). Please see the entry allowance tab for more information on how to rank these entries.

Please see Appendix 1 and Reg 6 for available BUCS Points.

BUCS Canoeing Rules and Regulations

All competitors should be familiar with and understand available gender categories and regulations under REG 4.3. Please find further information on gender eligibility here.

Saturday

• Open K1
• Female C1
• Open C2
• Open Classic Team Type 2
• Kayak Cross Open and Female Timed Runs

Sunday

• Open C1
• Female K1
• Open Classic Team Type 1
• Kayak Cross Open and Female Head-to-Head

We welcome the participation of para-athletes at this event. If you are a para-athlete that is looking to take part in this year’s BUCS Canoe Slalom event, then please email [email protected] to express your interest and to see if appropriate accommodations can be made for your participation.

Anyone can apply if their equipment meets the following criteria, as per the ICF guidance:

Boat and Paddle 

Only mass-produced boats freely available for purchase on the open market are permitted. 

• Maximum length of boats: 2.75m 
• Minimum weight of boats: 18kg
• Plastic boats only  

• The paddle is not permitted to have any sharp edges on the paddle blade. 
• Metal tipped paddle blades are also not allowed. 
• The paddle edges must have a minimum thickness of 5mm (radius of 2.5mm).
• Paddles can be taped to make up 5mm and remove sharp edges

Body Protection and Equipment Control 

• Full body buoyance aid.
• Full head protective helmet.
• Additional protection equipment is allowed (e.g. side protection, mouthguard, elbow protection). 

If an athlete's equipment does not comply with the requirements and pre-competition Equipment Control is in operation, they will not be allowed to start and will receive the DNS code. If an athlete's equipment does not comply with the requirements and post-competition Equipment Control is in operation, they will receive the DSQ code. 

Event Format

Kayak Cross Timed Runs will start at the pool at the top of the course. Kayak Cross Head-to-Head will begin off the starting ramps.

The top 32 from Open Kayak Cross Timed Runs and the top 32 from Female Kayak Cross Timed Runs will qualify for the Kayak Cross Head-to-Head on Sunday.

Any institution that has 12 or more entries accepted into the competition will be required to provide a water safety officer at the event. This will be required for every 12 competitors accepted, so if an institution has 24 entries accepted, they will need to provide two water safety officers, and so on. Institutions who do not provide their allocation of water safety officers will be fined £150 per officer.

All institutions will also be required to provide judges at allocated points during the competition, which will be published in advance of the event. Any institution that does not provide a judge when required will be fined £50.

A representative from each institution will collect all of their competitors’ bibs for their institution altogether. On collecting the bibs, we will require a deposit in the form of either a student ID or credit/debit card. When you return the bibs altogether, you will then have your card returned to you.

Please see REG 7.9 for our withdrawal policy.

Competitors who withdraw after 23:59 on Friday 13 February 2026 or who do not attend the event will be classed as a late withdrawal/no show and therefore will be charged the entry fee and fined £10.

Withdrawals must be made in writing by the institution administrator to Tanyel Mustafa, BUCS Event Coordinator.

This will be released closer to the competition date.

Anyone wishing to take photos or video at this event must complete the BUCS Media Accreditation Form prior to the event.

BUCS reserves the right to prohibit photography equipment being used at a BUCS event. BUCS reserves the right to request that the individual ceases to take photographs, deletes any images and, if considered necessary, leaves the venue.

If you wish to take photos or videos at this event, please contact the BUCS Event Lead. 

BUCS’ mission is to provide exceptional student sporting experiences that inspire, develop and unite.

Critical to our success is our commitment to always providing safe, friendly and enjoyable environments for all participants. Whether competing, coaching, officiating, volunteering, working or spectating at these events, the welfare of all is critical to our mission.

To find out more or report a concern, please click here.

All questions should in the first instance should be directed to your Institution Administration.