SURREY HILLS & RIVERS DW LIVE HUB SETS FOUNDATIONS FOR FUTURE YEARS

The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race has international in the name for a reason.

Paddlers from across the globe have travelled to take on this great race. And this year was no different. There were crews from the Netherlands, Estonia, Norway, Ireland, South Africa and France to name a few. But just what is the international appeal beyond the competitors?

This has always been something that’s hard to quantify, but with the introduction of the Surrey Hills & Rivers DW Live Hub for 2024, we now have more insight into just how wide the DW interest spreads.

Over the course of the race, over 25,000 individuals descended onto the DW website, including the DW Live Hub. Of course, the majority of users were based in the UK, that’s only natural given where DW takes place.

But what was surprising was the amount of people on the hub from other countries. In total, people from 72 countries visited the hub and the website over Easter, showcasing just how much of an international appeal this race really has.

Credit: Nicki Douglas-Lee

We had people from the US, Japan and Australia, and people from even more surprising locations such as Israel, Thailand, and even Peru!

With this being the first year for the DW Live Hub, things were never going to be 100% perfect. 

But what it did prove, was that this year’s DW Live Hub was a great platform to start from, and if nothing else, it has helped demonstrate just how much interest there really is in this race. 

That doesn’t mean we stop here, if anything the work has only just begun. We’ve already identified areas where improvements can be made for next year to make it bigger and better, and they will be implemented over the course of the next 12 months.

So thank you for your support by logging on, interacting and following. Without your engagement, this wouldn’t have worked.

And thank you to Surrey Hills & Rivers who were our named sponsor for the Live Hub in 2024.

Now it’s time to collate all the ideas and plans, and make sure it’s an even bigger success in 2025.