AN OXFORD canoeing club has launched a bid to train talented youngsters for the Olympics.

The Falcon Rowing and Canoe Club on Donnington Bridge has raised £18,000 for a new fleet of kayaks for junior members.

It is hoped the new boats will help the budding sportsmen and women train for the Olympics in either 2016 or 2020.

Club chairman Peter Travis said: “We set out on this path to raise £18,000 two-and-a-half years ago and we have finally achieved it.

“The thing with kayaking is that you have to have a boat that is the right size for you.

“We couldn’t use the normal club kayaks for juniors.”

He added: “It was wonderful to finally unveil the boats on Saturday. The girls particularly love them.”

The money was raised through grants from the Oxfordshire Community Foundation, the Waterways Trust, the Nation al Lottery and fundraising from parents.

The club, which has been running since 1869, currently has more than 50 youngsters in the club.

Mr Travis said: “A lot of people consider the river as just a place for undergraduates but it is also a facility for people from the town, and kids from the town.

“This is particularly the case in East Oxford, where people see it as something that’s not really for them.

“But it is. And kayaking is much cheaper to take part in than rowing.”

Junior kayak co-ordinator Cath Greehy has been involved with the club for the past five years. Her daughter Lucy, 16, trains seven times a week with the club.

She said: “We wanted to make sure everyone had the opportunity to progress through the sport.

“It is nice that the children have this chance to try something that is relatively low cost for them.”

Sisters Emma, 13, and Lucy Hield, 10, from Rose Hill, train with the club twice a week.

Lucy said: “I tried one of the new boats out and I really like them. I like that they have Falcon written on them and how good they look.

“I like racing the most, we get to do a lot of races. Lots of my friends want to have a go now too.”