A FORMER Okehampton Rugby Club player has been selected out of thousands of athletes hoping to represent his country in the 2012 London Olympics. Matt Sollars, 20, is hoping to win a prize medal in the sport of flatwater canoeing. It all started in February last year when Matt saw the public appeal for 'sporting giants'. The appeal was made by UK Sport, in conjunction with the English Institute of Sport, to find potential giants of British sport for the Olympics. In the first appeal of its kind, UK Sport put out a call for potential athletes to make themselves known — as long as they met the basic criteria of 6ft 3ins and up for men and 5ft 11ins and up for women, and could provide some sort of an athletic background. The 'Sporting Giants — London 2012' was promoted by a number of high profile sports people such as Sir Steve Redgrave. When the registration period closed there were just under 4,000 applications meeting all the basic needs — and out of the thousands of hopefuls Matt was one of just six chosen for the sport of flat water canoeing. The former back row player said the selection process saw him whittled down from thousands of people to just ten and now the final six were currently in the transition phase of learning the sport, which they have been doing since January this year. He said: 'When I first saw the "pencil boat" (top line canoe racing boat) I thought it was ridiculous. Then there were these two juniors flying by in them and I thought "I have no chance".' The pencil boat is eleven inches wide and sees participants kneeling down on one knee while the other is bent. The athletes are currently training on a canoe a few inches wider in order to work on technique, as they are all learning the sport from scratch. Matt, who is currently studying English at Loughborough University, said: 'I saw Sporting Giants as a great opportunity. I have always wanted to be a professional sportsman — I have always loved sport. 'I do 23 hours a week of training and eight hours at university — balancing the sport and uni seems to be going well. 'It's weird not knowing what the sport was and now it is my life.' His father, Martin, said Matt had been serious at playing sport for a long time and always wanted to make it professionally. He said: 'He saw this appeal and decided to go for it. 'They took on people who are active in sport, tall and fit — ready to go straight into a new sport. It is remarkable how far he has come in a few months.' At the beginning of each month the athletes take part in a regatta in the National Water Sports Centre Nottingham (NWSC), where they currently train. In a future regatta race Matt and his team-mate will possibly have the opportunity of going into the European U23 Championships if they win. Due to time commitments for training and university, Matt and his fellow athletes are appealing to local residents for help with sponsorship in their Olympic efforts. Anyone who would like to help should email [email protected]">[email protected]