Canoe: Slalom Championships 2025-26

Saturday 21 – Sunday 22 February 2026

Holme Pierrepont Country Park, Home of the National Water Sports Centre

Adbolton Ln, Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham NG12 2LU

Due to the recent adverse weather conditions and rising river levels, a bad weather contingency plan is currently in place. River levels will be monitored closely throughout the week, and participating institutions will be provided with an update at the start of next week.

Should postponement be required, a provisional alternative date has been identified as Friday 1st - Saturday 2nd May. Please note that if the event is postponed, the event format may be subject to change.

ORGANISERS

This event is organised for BUCS by the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.

Key Contacts

A representative from each institution must attend the captains briefing at race control. Please see schedule for more information.

Competition Day 1

07:00 Site Opens

07:30 Volunteer arrival & briefing at Race Control (wooden hut by the white-water course)

07:45 Water safety officers to attend briefing at Race Control (wooden hut by white-water course)

08:00-9:00 Registration open at Race Control (wooden hut by white-water course) 

08:15 Practice session starts

09:00 Captains’ Briefing at Race Control (wooden hut by the white-water course)

09:15 Judges’ Briefing (Outside Timing and Scoring office)  

09:30 Practice session ends

09:45 Judges in position

10:00-14:00 Open K1, Female C1 and Open C2 runs

Runs may be taken in any order at approx. 1-minute intervals

Please do not leave all runs until the end

11:00-11:30 Priority given to national ranked paddlers-Paddle UK Division 3 & above

Others can take runs, but ranked paddlers will take precedence.

12:30-13:00 Priority given to national ranked paddlers

14:00-15:00* Open Classic Team Type 2 - Approx. 3-minute intervals ONE RUN ONLY

15:00 – 16:00 Kayak Cross Course Change

15:30 – 15:45 Kayak Cross Judges Briefing

16:00 – 17:00 Kayak Cross Open and Female Timed Runs

Up to 32 from each category to go through to head-to-head on competition day 2

17:15 Open K1, Female C1, Open C2 Open Classic Team Type 2 Results & Prize Giving by Race Control

17:30 Estimated event finish time

18:00 Volunteers & Officials depart

19:00 Site closes

*Team events may run up to an hour early - changes to be announced through the WhatsApp group. All times are provisional and may be subject to changes on the day.

Competition Day 2

07:00 Site Opens

07:45 Volunteer arrival & briefing (wooden hut by the white-water course)

08:00 Practice session starts

08:45 Judges’ Briefing (Outside timing and scoring office) 

08:50 Practice session ends

09:15 Judges in position

09:30-11:30 Female K1, Open C1 Runs

Runs may be taken in any order at approx. 1-minute intervals

Please do not leave all runs until the end

10:00-10:30 Priority given to national ranked paddlers-Paddle UK Division 3 & above

Others can take runs, but ranked paddlers will take precedence.

11:00-11:30 Priority given to national ranked paddlers

11:30-12:30* Open Classic Team Type 1 - Approx. 3-minute intervals ONE RUN ONLY

12:30–13:30 Kayak Cross course change

13:15 Kayak Cross Judges Briefing (wooden hut by the white-water course)

13:30 – 15:00 Kayak Cross Open and Female Head-to-Head

Approx 3-minute intervals between runs

15:15 Female K1, Open C1, Open Classic Team Type 1 and Kayak Cross Results & Prize Giving by Race Control

16:00 Estimated event finish time

16:30 De-rig and clear up

17:00 Volunteers & Officials depart

18:00 Site closes

*Team events may run up to an hour early - changes to be announced through the WhatsApp group. All times are provisional and may be subject to changes on the day.

Main Centre Building

• Toilets
• Changing rooms

Race Control

• Team registration & enquiries
• Briefings
• First Aid point
• Volunteer & Officials refreshments

Gazebo outside Race Control

• Participant refreshments

Medical

• Race control will be the main contact point for any First Aid situations.
• Molly Stewart and Steven Drake are the coordinators of the primary event first aider group (8 that will be onsite for half days each) and will be available via radio.
• Molly Stewart, Steven Drake, the HPP staff and coaches on site will also be able to assist as required.

Results

• These will be displayed at the timing and scoring office.

Institutions are responsible for the safety of their own paddlers, but the event will provide additional support.

This will be led by Holme Pierrepont with 6 experienced bank safety and 10+ university volunteers who will be rotated throughout the day.

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 entries 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.

Communications will be sent out to all universities who are required to provide water safety across the weekend. Please ensure that if you are providing water safety at any point during the event you are wearing a buoyance aid and helmet. Please see schedule for time of water safety briefing.

Institutions will be required to provide judges at allocated points during the competition. The number of positions a university must cover is based on the number of entries, e.g a university with few entries will not be expected to cover a position. Please see schedule for time of judges briefing. Any institution that does not provide a judge when required will be fined £50.

Please see judging rota below. This is subject to change and will be confirmed the weekend of the event.

 Saturday & Sunday

All institutions will be provided with a bag of bibs on the day.

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.

Clothing

Volunteers and officials are advised to bring plenty of warm clothing and waterproofs where required.

Event information

Event information will be provided at race control - the wooden hut by the mid-course bridge.

Lost and Found Children / Vulnerable Adult

Any children found to be unsupervised or lost will be escorted by a member of staff to the main reception at Holme Pierrepont.

Details will then be taken to try and determine name or parents or supervising adults. A message will then be broadcast to try and locate the parent. If there is any doubt then the child will not be released without police consultation to protect children from harm.

In the event of a child being reported missing a description will be broadcast to all staff on the radio to try and locate them. The stewards will lead on the search for a missing child or vulnerable adult.

Lost property

All lost property found or missing will be logged at race control and then handed in at the main reception at the end of the weekend.

Emergency Procedures

In the event of a fire or major incident, evacuations will be managed as per the venue emergency action plan and managed by venue staff.

QR Code and Link for WhatsApp Community

Please scan this QR code or click on the link below to join the BUCS Canoe Slalom 2026 Community.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/GFFkDkBqmlsG5JBRXl1T3r

Here we will provide updates for competitors leading up to the event and over the event weekend.

BUCS Canoeing Rules and Regulations

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.

Driving Directions

When you arrive at Holme Pierrepont Country Park, follow signs for the White-Water Course.

Parking

The majority of attendees will park in the main car park and will pay for parking using the machine or app (signage available). Please be aware that you will receive a fine if you do not pay for your parking on each day of the competition.

https://parkpcm.co.uk/index.php     (Location 4455)

Volunteers and officials will receive free parking as long as they provide their registration number to Molly Stewart one week in advance of the event.

Public Catering

The HPP Café will operate throughout both days of the event, serving hot and cold drinks and a range of hot & cold snacks.

Participants

Hot drinks will be available for all participants in a gazebo by race control.

Workforce

Lunch, as well as hot drinks and snacks throughout the day, will be available from race control.

Please bring your own mug where possible.

Presentations will be outside of Race Control (wooden hut by white-water course).

Please see Appendix 1 for the BUCS Points available at this event.

Anyone wishing to take photos or video at this event must complete the BUCS Nationals 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. 

Players and/or coaches are not permitted to livestream their matches on their phones. Please note that the use of tripods should be avoided where possible, particularly around the courts.

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.

The sustainability of our event matters to us and these are the positive steps we are taking to manage our environmental impact:

• All staff and volunteers are encouraged to travel to the event via public transport
• We have used local suppliers where possible
• Event programmes are all online, minimising paper use
• We are beginning to track our carbon footprint across BUCS events to identify areas of improvement.

How can you help at this event? Here’s some ideas:

• Be self-sufficient by bringing your own refillable bottles and coffee cups to reduce waste.
• Ensure you are disposing of waste correctly – Check around the venue for specific recycling and food waste bins.
• Travel smarter – as a team on a minibus, cycle or use public transport.
• Go paperless - use your phone for all event information