School pupils from Ealing braved the white water rapids used in the London Olympics as part of a sports festival.

Students from The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls joined more than 400 others from secondary schools across London, Hertfordshire and Essex, at Lee Valley White Water Centre in Waltham Cross.

Following in the trail of top athletes who have trained and competed at the Olympic venue, the pupils were taking part in the centre’s seventh annual Schools Festival. They experienced rafting down the thrilling 300m-long competition course, negotiating the rush of 13,000 litres of water per second.

During the day, pupils also had an opportunity to try a variety of other activities. They tackled sports such as canoeing, cycling, beach tennis, volleyball and beach football on a new ‘beach’ pitch that recently hosted an England versus Germany international match – this was supported by the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Lee Valley White Water Centre hosted the London 2012 canoe slalom events in which Team GB won gold and silver medals in the C2 as well as the 2014 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup where GB won seven golds and one silver medal. The venue is home to British Canoeing’s High Performance Centre and is the base for the British Canoe Slalom squad and all UK Sport funded Podium athletes.

The schools festival is funded by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, in partnership with Vibrant Partnerships.

Paul Osborn, Chairman of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority said: “We have funded schools festivals every year since 2011 as part of our Olympic legacy work – and we know that they provide the first experience of this adrenalin sport for most of the pupils who come.”