Sport | |
---|---|
Jurisdiction | National |
Founded | 1936 |
Headquarters | National Water Sports Centre, Adbolton Lane, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, NG12 2LU |
President | Dee Paterson |
Chairman | Professor John Coyne CBE |
Replaced | British Canoeing |
(founded) | 1887 |
Official website | |
paddleuk | |
Paddle UK is a national governing body in the United Kingdom for canoeing, kayaking and other paddlesports such as standup paddleboarding. Established in 1936 as the British Canoe Union, it federalised in 2000 to become the umbrella organisation for the home nation associations in Scotland (Scottish Canoe Association), Wales (Canoe Wales) and Northern Ireland (Canoe Association of Northern Ireland). In 2015 it took on the name British Canoeing and amalgamated the former British Canoe Union, Canoe England and GB Canoeing. [1] In March 2024, British Canoeing changed their name to Paddle UK. [2]
1887 saw the formation of the British Canoe Association, which lasted about thirty years. Revived in 1933, it merged with the Canoe Section of the Camping Club of Great Britain. In March 1936, representatives of the Canoe Section of the Camping Club, Clyde Canoe Club, Manchester Canoe Club, and the Royal Canoe Club, formed the British Canoe Union. It was incorporated as a company on 30 October 1980.
The British Canoe Union operated as a membership organisation for canoeists (paddlers) resident in England and worked in cooperation with its counterparts in the other home nations: Scotland (Scottish Canoe Association – SCA), Wales (Canoe Wales) and Northern Ireland (Canoe Association of Northern Ireland – CANI), at first informally and then through a series of agreements reached in 1976 and in 2018. The BCU rebranded as British Canoeing in 2014 and in the most recent agreement great care was taken to define each party's responsibility – where British Canoeing was fulfilling its GB role and where it was acting as the delivery body for England.[ citation needed ] Fulfilling both roles made British Canoeing different from the National Associations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but the agreement ensured mutual understanding and support.[ citation needed ]
In 2014 the organisation started rebranding, "Going forward, the British Canoe Union, Canoe England & GB Canoeing will be known collectively as British Canoeing."
With the growing popularity of stand up paddleboarding, further rebranding occurred in 2024, with the organisation changing their name to Paddle UK. [2] [3]
Paddle UK is responsible for leading and setting the overall framework for the National Associations; representing canoeing interests such as coaching and competition at UK and international level.
It formulates standards for training programmes with certification levels. It administers a range of personal performance awards and coaching awards, some of which are recognised by the UK Coaching Certificate.
Paddle UK is a membership organisation for canoeists, kayakers and other paddlers resident in England and it also carries out certain UK-wide roles on behalf of itself and the other 3 home nation associations: The Scottish Canoe Association, The Welsh Canoeing Association, and The Canoe Association of Northern Ireland, most particularly the training and organisation of international teams which participate in competitions under the control of the International Canoe Federation. It is concerned with all paddlesports, recreational as well as competitive, in open and closed craft, paddled with single and double-bladed paddles, on inland and coastal waters as well as open ocean.
Paddle UK is headquartered at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottinghamshire, England, which was until recently also the base of Canoe England. Previously they were based in Bingham, Nottinghamshire.
The organisation creates the rules for competitive canoeing used throughout the UK and has over 30,000 individual members, 625 affiliated clubs, and 145 approved centres. It is unique among national sporting certifying bodies in requiring continuous membership for qualifications to remain valid; thus its membership is not strictly voluntary and may not accurately reflect the organisation's popularity.[ citation needed ]
Many waterways in England and Wales are managed for boat traffic by a Navigation Authority. On these waterways all boat traffic, including unpowered craft such as rowing boats and canoes, require a licence. Paddle UK provides its members with a licence to use their canoes, kayaks, and SUPs on most of these managed waterways, including those managed by the two largest Navigation Authorities: the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency. This means the members do not need to buy separate licence from each authority. [4]
Paddle UK has been attempting for over fifty years to increase the extremely limited public access to English and Welsh rivers. It recently started a Rivers Access Campaign which aims to raise public awareness of the problems that kayakers and canoeists face in accessing the rivers of England and Wales (the right to paddle on Scottish rivers is already written into the law). This campaign aims to bring about changes in the law for England and Wales similar to those now established in Scotland that will open up more rivers to the public.
Paddle UK's official charity partner is the Canoe Foundation.
Paddle Scotland, formerly the Scottish Canoe Association or SCA, is the national governing body for canoeing, kayaking and other paddlesport in Scotland.
Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today but is often used as a hypernym for both canoe marathon and canoe sprint. Similarly, the term 'canoeing' is used to describe both kayaking and canoeing.
The River Cam is a small river in Gloucestershire, England. It flows for 12 miles (20 km) north-westwards from the Cotswold Edge, across the Vale of Berkeley, into the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.
Mike Jones QGM was a 20th-century canoeist, best known for his expeditions on the Blue Nile and Dudh Kosi.
Canoe diving and Kayak diving are recreational diving where the divers paddle to a diving site in a canoe or kayak carrying all their gear in or on the boat to the place they want to dive. Canoe or kayak diving gives the diver independence from dive boat operators, while allowing dives at sites which are too far to comfortably swim, but are sufficiently sheltered.
Canoe Wales is the national governing body for paddlesport in Wales. It covers all branches of the sport from recreational canoeing, kayaking, stand up paddleboarding and rafting to whitewater racing, slalom racing and wildwater racing; flatwater sprint racing and marathon racing; canoe sailing; canoe polo; surf kayaking and canoeing; and extreme racing. The organisation has over 2,700 members including individual paddlers as well as affiliated club members. Full adult members of Canoe Wales are also by default Welsh members of Paddle UK.
The Rivers Access Campaign is an ongoing initiative by the British Canoe Union (BCU) to open up the inland waterways of England and Wales to the public. Under current English and Welsh law, public access to rivers is restricted, and only 2% of all rivers in England and Wales have public access rights.
Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Standup paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was documented in a 2013 report that identified it as the outdoor sporting activity with the most first-time participants in the United States that year. Variations include flat water paddling, racing, surfing, whitewater SUP, yoga, and fishing.
The Liffey Descent Canoe Race is an annual down river canoe and kayak race, of some 18 miles in length, that has been held on the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland since 1960. It starts by the K Club above Straffan weir in County Kildare, and historically finished by the Dublin University Boat Club adjacent to the Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge in Dublin city centre. It is organised by the Irish Canoe Union and is normally timed to coincide with The Liffey Swim. 2009 saw the 50th anniversary of the event.
The British Triathlon Federation is the national governing body for triathlon, duathlon and associated multisport in Great Britain. It administers triathlon in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Britain at the world body, the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and the regional body the European Triathlon Union (ETU). The BTF also selects athletes to represent the national team, at races such as the world triathlon series and the Olympic games.
Viking Kayak Club is an open, community-based, multi-disciplinary club and is now one of the foremost canoe and kayak clubs in the UK. The club offers a broad range of paddling opportunities from easy recreational paddling to competition in canoe slalom, canoe racing and canoe polo and is active in encouraging beginners into the sport.
Liam Heath is a British sprint canoeist. He is the most successful British canoeist at the Olympics with a total of four medals; he won a gold medal in the individual 200m kayak sprint event at the 2016 Summer Olympics and a bronze in the 2020 Olympics, as well as a silver in the men's double with Jon Schofield in 2016. and a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics in the K-2 200 with Schofield.
Canoeing – recreational boating activity or paddle sport in which you kneel or sit facing forward in an open or closed-decked canoe, and propel yourself with a single-bladed paddle, under your own power.
In 2000 the British Canoe Union (BCU) federalised to become the umbrella organisation for the Home Nation Associations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Jon Schofield is a British canoeist. He partnered with Liam Heath in the men's kayak double 200m sprint event, and they have won a bronze in K-2 200 at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and a silver at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the same event. They have also won gold at the European Championships three times as well as silver and bronze medals at the World Championships.
The Canoe Association of Northern Ireland (CANI) was formed in 1964 and is the governing body for canoeing and kayaking in Northern Ireland. CANI is the Northern Ireland Division of British Canoeing. British Canoeing is the governing body for the UK. CANI, through British Canoeing is affiliated to the International Canoe Federation.
Norwich Canoe Club is based at Whitlingham, Trowse in Norwich, Norfolk, UK with Whitlingham Great Broad, Whitlingham Little Broad, River Yare and River Wensum on its doorstep. It is a canoe and kayak racing club that focuses on flatwater sprint canoeing and marathon canoeing. It is a friendly club where canoeing is safe and fun and welcomes anyone who wants to have a go on the water. The club has as many girls as boys and as many women as men and also many families who all come and paddle together. Members are all ages, from 7 to 70 so there is definitely a place for everyone.
The Irish Canoe Union, known as Canoeing Ireland since 2012, is the governing body for paddlesports in the Republic of Ireland. It has been affiliated with the Olympic Federation of Ireland since 1964. It is a member of the International Canoe Federation.