Trips
The Canoe Club operate trips throughout the year and all members are welcome to come along, private trips for more advanced paddlers are also run (usually very short notice and rain dependant).
We have a wide range of equipment available to suit nearly everyone's needs! For trips we will provide a kayak, paddle and all the safety equipment you'll be needing, Wetsuits are available for hire from the Athletics Union during office hours.
Safety is provided by our more experienced paddlers who are all very experienced in white water safety & rescue, if you turn out to have a natural talent for kayaking you could find yourself on the safety team by the time you leave uni!
What to bring
For the first trip you probably won't have much gear - so anything windproof is good for your top, with some thermal clothes underneath, think fleecy. Then waterproof trousers or shorts for your bums.
For the winter trips you will be needing warm clothes to wear while off the water and it never hurts to have a warm drink.
Depending on the weather you will probably need a wetsuit or dry kayaking gear. Wetsuits are available for hire from the AU office, there are some old cags in the shed which can be used. If you decide you like kayaking your first purchase is probably a cag, this keeps the wind and water off and traps air inside to keep you warm... if you don't have a cag you can use a windproof lightweight jacket, anything that keeps the wind away is good.
Long hair needs to be tied up and you may not be able to wear glasses on some rivers.
Wetsuit gloves are not allowed as they are a safety risk. There are some types of gloves which can be worn, check with the safety team before using them to check that they are safe to use while kayaking.
We usually stop in a shop on the way to trips to get some food for after the river - but not always, and it's good if we don't have to stop.
The safety team and river leader will have all the safety and first aid stuff.
This years trips...
Here's the upcoming events...
Gower Weekend
This is a camping trip, you'll be needing a tent and/or a tent buddy!
SCOTLAND
Every year the club takes a trip up to Scotland in the first week of the Easter break to take advantage of the excellent range of rivers & lochs for all abilities. The trip is normally 10 days, with the first half in the Perth area and the second half we move up towards Fort William.
Scotland isn't all about the paddling, it's essentially a 10 day long party with plenty to do even if you don't fancy getting wet... there is usually at least one day skiing/boarding in one of Scotlands' "resorts"... there's also ice climbing, hiking, go karting, biking, swimming, saunaing... Activities vary from year to year based on where we are staying and how many people there are. The more people that come the more we can do and the cheaper it gets!
It all kicks off with a pre scotland party held the Friday before we leave... we then meet at the shed at around 12pm on Sunday and load up the minibuses, vans, cars and trailer before hitting Pub on the Pond for a meal... for the non drivers the next 8 hours of your life will be very hazy as we head on up to the river Tay for a gentle dawn paddle before heading to a shop to stock up on the essentials, beer, food and toilet paper.
If you're just starting out don't expect to paddle every day as this is a trip for all abilities and the safety team pay the same as everyone else for the trip and so get to go and play on some of the harder rivers while everyone else finds something else to do, like skiing.
The trip normally costs around £200 (which includes all transport, food and accommodation!) so make sure you save some of your loan for this trip - the Scotland organisers (usually 2 members of the current committee plus 2 people who have organised Scotland in the past) will be in touch with more details!
Rivers
Swansea University extremely good access to rivers in the UK, there are rivers of all grades to suit all paddlers, but we don't just stick to Swansea, we go all over the UK, and the more experienced paddlers often organise trips abroad during the Summer. Here's just a few of the rivers we paddle...
- Symmonds Yat (England) (Grade 1 / 2) - Introduction to moving water
- River Neath (South Wales) (Grade 2/3 (4)) - Introduction to white water
- River Usk (South Wales) (Grade 1/2)
- Afon Teifi (West Wales) (Grade 1/2/3/4/5)
- Afon Tryweryn (North Wales) (Grade 2/3/4)
- 'Lower Tawe' (Swansea) (Grade 1/2)
- Sawdde (Nr. Swansea) (Grade 2-4)
- Afon Tywi (West Wales) (Grade 2-3)
And some more entertaining local rivers for the more experienced paddlers...
- Afon Mellte (Grade 4/5 (Waterfalls))
- Afon Cwm Du (Grade 4)
- Afon Dylais (Grade 3/4)
- Afon Nedd Fechan (Grade 4/5)
- Afon Twrch (Grade 3/4)
- 'Upper Upper Upper Tawe' (Grade 3/4)
- 'Tawe Gorge' (Grade 5)
- 'Upper Tawe' (Grade 3/4/5/6 in very high water)
- 'Tawe' (Grade 3)
We have river boats of all shapes and sizes to suit everyone's needs!
Surf
We are very lucky to be situated on the coast and not only do we have excellent river paddling but we also have plenty of beaches all within half an hour of the University (some just over the road!).
Our first kayak surf trip will usually be a two day trip in the first month of the University year and is a weekend away camping on the Gower then off to Llangennith for some surf, this sometimes changes due to weather/wind conditions.
Polo
We take part in Bath University (Bath), Cardiff University (Cardiff Bay) and BUCS Polo (Doncaster) tournaments. We have several Polo boats which are used for both Polo and Pool Sessions.
Racing
Although we do not own any white water racing boats, we take part in the BUCS Wild Water Race on the river Washburn in Yorkshire.