at the last olympics team gb had a few tricks up their sleeves. their buoyancy design a cut above the rest. traditionally you would have a buoyancy aid which is quite thick with a separate spray deck. and the technology is actually to put both in one combined. what you see is the bottom here is, it would have been in the top half but has actually been placed in the bottom half. and for our sport it is really important for the athletes that they can get really close around the poles. so this bit is now much thinner and it makes it much easier for the athlete to move around the gates. you can see the difference in the first and second run. his run down the rapids complete, next it is to the video analysis room to assess those twists and turns. i think you react without even realising you are reacting. a lot of the stuff you do is second nature, you have done a lot of the paddling on this course so you know it like the back of your hand. so when things are going wrong

olympics. they are on teams affiliate with and in gb or plate and in gb sponsored event. this can occlude little league teams, local tennis tournaments or gymnastic competitions. they are in many instances children, but they still fall within the parameters of organized sports. so when we talk about athletes safety, , we're not just talk about the elite athlete representing the country at the highest level of their competition. we are also talking about our friends, our neighbors, and yes, our children. this is what athletes safety must be the top priority of usoc and in gps and why they should have robust policies and procedures in place that reflect their priority. more importantly, these policies and procedures must be followed, otherwise they're not worth the paper they are written on and the culture must be such that are athletes feel safe and protected. sadly, we've see what can happen when athletes safety is not a priority. too often it seems that the usoc and ngbs haven't acted until their publicly pressured to do so. when you have survivors saying that they were