The current level of excellence is due to over forty years of hard work and constant improvement. What is now one of the best kayaking clubs in the country started back in 1962 in the small village of Shalford, Surrey, when several senior scouts formed a team to compete in the epic 125 mile Devizes to Westminster canoe race. Over the next decade, whilst operating from various locations along the river Wey, the club established itself in flat-water racing, and maintains this tradition until the present day by competing frequently at national and international levels and constantly striving to improve even further.

An important landmark in our history has been the completion of the new multi-functional building for the Guildford Waterside centre in 2005, which has provided us with new, better facilities, and enabled us to enhance our land-based training programmes.

Over the years, we have excelled in sprint and marathon kayaking (K1, K2 and K4) and canoeing (C1, C2, C4) both nationally and internationally.

Marathon - Our successes in marathon include a gold medal in the K1 (single kayak) Junior Men’s event at the 2004 World Marathon Championships in Bergen, Norway, the Junior Team Trophy and the Junior Mixed course record time in the 1987 Devizes to Westminster race, and the winning of the highly regarded Hasler Trophy six times between 1972 and 2007. Several of our members competed, as part of the Great Britain team, in the 2006 World Marathon Championships. We have also won the Sella Trophy (Spain) in 2002 and 2003.  

Sprint - Our paddlers, who are equally strong in sprint racing, were part of the team representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Seoul (1988), Los Angeles (1992) and Barcelona (1996). At national level, we have won the prestigious MacGregor Paddle a number of times which is awarded to the winner of the annual sprint regatta at the National Water Sport Centre, Nottingham. We have also won the Rhodes Trophy in three consecutive years starting with 2001. The times achieved by our athletes at domestic level in the WK1 1000m, C1 500m, C1 1000m and C4 1000 disciplines are still unbeaten. A further distinction in canoe racing is the gold medal in the C2 event at the 1981 World Slalom Championships. 

Whilst being a strong racing club, we pay equal attention to beginner coaching and paddler development, which means that we cater for a broad ability range and welcome everyone with an interest in flat-water kayaking. If you are interested in joining the club where you can learn kayaking from some of the best coaches and really paddle your way through to the top (however you define it), then see the Courses section for more information.