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Wildwater canoeing is a competitive discipline of canoeing in which kayaks or canoes are used to negotiate a stretch of river speedily. It is also called "Whitewater racing" or "Downriver racing" to distinguish it from whitewater slalom racing and whitewater rodeo or Freestyle competition.
The objective of the sport is to go from the starting point of the course on a river to the end point as quickly as possible. Typical wildwater venues consist of Class II - IV whitewater, in contrast to extreme racing, which takes place on more difficult streams. Match competitions generally consist of a classic and a sprint race. A classic course is 4 to 6 miles (6–10 km) in length or 10 to 35 minutes in duration, while the Sprint is between 500 and 750 meters and lasts around 2 minutes. Although there is some specialization, the vast majority of racers compete in both classic and sprint.
Competitors are placed in classes based on gender and boat type as follows:
The competitors are numbered within their class based on results from previous races and compete in reverse order (best paddler last), usually at one-minute intervals. To race successfully, paddlers must possess refined technical skill, as well as strength, endurance, aerobic capacity, and the ability to "read" whitewater.
Whitewater racing is also practiced by competing teams; each team is made by a group of three competitors belonging to the same class.
Whitewater racing started in Europe with the International Canoe Federation being formed and having the first World Championships in Switzerland in 1949. Since then, there has been a World Championships every two years. Since 2011 there is a sprint only world championships, with sprint and classic being contested every other (even) year.
The boats all have a rounded hull profile, making them fast but unstable and hard to turn. Rather than using wide sweep strokes to turn the boat, the paddler tilts the boat to one side, utilizing its curved profile to effect the turn in a manner similar to "carving a turn" in skiing. Two "wings" (flaring protrusions near the stern hull) meet the minimum width required by racing rules and add secondary stability, as well as enhancing the effect of carving a turn. When the boat is under way, most of each wing will be above the waterline so as to minimize drag. The use of kevlar, carbon fiber, and glass-reinforced plastic construction has substantially reduced the weight of wildwater boats, while improving stiffness. The top part (the deck) and the bottom (the hull) are molded separately and then bonded together using kevlar or glass cloth strips and epoxy or polyester resin. A boat can be made in 2 to 3 days, but without an oven can take weeks to cure fully.
Before glass-reinforced plastic boats, the common racing craft was the folding kayak, usually composed of a wooden frame covered with canvas.
Competitors are also required to wear an appropriate whitewater helmet and PFD and River shoes or booties and flotation bags for their boats.
Racers paddle down a course along the fastest jets of water. In order to go fast, they follow the edges of wave trains and hold as straight a line as possible down the river. If it is unclear which line is fastest, two paddlers simultaneously float the different options and see which boat moves ahead. Because of the high speeds, racers frequently run a river two or three times a day when training for a race.
Some racers practice on rivers if they are lucky to live near one. Usually they will paddle 5–10 miles a day, five to six days a week. Others practice on lakes or flatwater rivers. In northern areas rivers and lakes freeze, so racers sometimes train in an indoor pool, lift weights, run or do Cross-country skiing. When the rivers and lakes become free of ice then training is resumed outdoors.
Popular whitewater racing courses in Scotland include Grandtully and Stanley on the River Tay. Whitewater racing courses in England include the Washburn and the Tees. Popular whitewater racing courses in Wales include the Tryweryn, and the Dee.
In the United States, races take place throughout the Southeast, Northeast, Northwest, and Western states; rivers there include the Nantahala and Pigeon in North Carolina and the Ocoee in Tennessee. There are also well-attended annual races on West Virginia's Cheat and Gauley rivers, Maryland's Potomac and Youghiogheny ("Yough") rivers, as well as on Colorado's Arkansas for the annual Fibark Festival which has the oldest continually run downriver/wildwater race in the USA.
Rivers in Europe that have held international races include the Isère in Bourg St Maurice, France, the Loisach in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the Liffey in Ireland and the Teplá in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
In South Africa races take place on the Trichardt Spruit, Umkomaas River, Bushmans River and As River. The As River forms part of a water exchange program between South Africa and Lesotho and is fed via a tunnel from the Katse Dam.
The 2004 World Wildwater Championships were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. [2] The 2006 Championships were held from 12–17 June on the Teplá River, in the Czech Republic. [3] The K1 men's sprint race was won by Max Hoff of Germany; the K1 men's classic was won by Kamil Mruzek of the Czech Republic. [4] The 2008 World Championships will take place from 5–8 June in Ivrea, Italy. [5]
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term canoe can also refer to a kayak, while canoes are then called Canadian or open canoes to distinguish them from kayaks. However, for official competition purposes, the American distinction between a kayak and a canoe is almost always adopted.
Canoe slalom is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of the two kayak and canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics, and is referred to by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as Canoe/Kayak Slalom. The other Olympic canoeing discipline is canoe sprint. Wildwater canoeing is a non-Olympic paddlesport.
The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is the umbrella organization of all national canoe organizations worldwide. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and administers all aspects of canoe sport worldwide. 157 countries are affiliated with the ICF after seven national federations were added at the 2008 ICF Congress in Rome.
Canoe freestyle is a discipline of whitewater kayaking or canoeing where people perform various technical moves in one place, as opposed to downriver whitewater canoeing or kayaking where the objective is to travel the length of a section of river. Specialised canoes or kayaks (boats) known as playboats are often used, but any boat can be used for playing. The moves and tricks are often similar to those performed by snowboarders, surfers or skaters, where the athlete completes spins, flips, turns, etc. With modern playboats it is possible to get the kayak and the paddler completely airborne while performing tricks. The competitive side of playboating is known as freestyle kayaking.
Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed canoes or kayaks on calm water over a short distance. The sport is governed over by the International Canoe Federation and it is one of the two kayaking and canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics. The other Olympic canoeing discipline is canoe slalom.
Jon Phillip Lugbill is a whitewater canoe slalom racer. During the 1980s, he participated in international racing in Men's Individual C1. He is the only slalom racer to ever appear on the Wheaties box.
A surfski is a type of kayak in the kayaking "family" of paddling craft. It is generally the longest of all kayaks and is a performance oriented kayak designed for speed on open water, most commonly the ocean, although it is well suited to all bodies of water and recreational paddling.
A sprint canoe is a canoe used in International Canoe Federation canoe sprint. It is an open boat propelled by one, two or four paddlers from a kneeling position, using single-bladed paddles. The difficulty of balance can depend on how wide or narrow the canoe is, although regularly the less contact a canoe has with the water the faster it goes. This makes the narrower boats much faster and popular when it comes to racing.
The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation. The World Championships have taken place every non-Olympic year since 1970 and officially included paracanoe events since 2010; since 2012, paracanoe-specific editions of this event have been held in Summer Paralympic years.
Richard Munro Fox is a British slalom canoeist who competed for Great Britain from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. He won eleven medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with ten golds and a bronze. Fox also won the overall World Cup title three times and the Euro Cup four times.
The 2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships was the thirty-ninth edition of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, that took place between 17 and 21 August 2011 in Szeged, Hungary. The Southern Hungarian city welcomed the world event for the third time, having hosted the championship previously in 1998 and 2006. These championships were awarded initially to Vichy, France, however, the race course on the Allier proved to be inadequate to hold the competition and the French Canoe Federation withdraw from organizing the event, following that Szeged, the original host of the 2013 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, was moved up to 2011.
Whitewater canoeing is the sport of paddling a canoe on a moving body of water, typically a whitewater river. Whitewater canoeing can range from simple, carefree gently moving water, to demanding, dangerous whitewater. River rapids are graded like ski runs according to the difficulty, danger or severity of the rapid. Whitewater grades range from I or 1 to VI or 6. Grade/Class I can be described as slightly moving water with ripples. Grade/Class VI can be described as severe or almost unrunnable whitewater, such as Niagara Falls.
Canoe marathon is a paddling sport in which athletes paddle a kayak or canoe over a long distance to the finish line. The International Canoe Federation states the standard distances are at least 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) without an upper limit, while short distance races are between 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi), and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). Many events are raced down sections of river, including currents or portages around obstacles. Some events attract thousands of competitors and are staged over several days.
The ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships are an international event in canoeing organized by the International Canoe Federation. The World Championships have taken place every year in non-Summer Olympic years since 2002. From 1949 to 1999, they had taken place in odd-numbered years. The 2001 championships were scheduled to take place in Ducktown, Tennessee from 20 to 23 September, but were canceled in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
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.
ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships is an International Canoe Federation competition in canoe marathon in which athletes compete over long distances. The race usually starts and ends at the same place, and includes portages. Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. In a kayak, the paddler is seated in the direction of travel, and uses a double-bladed paddle. In a canoe the paddler kneels on one knee with the other leg forward and foot flat on the floor inside the boat, and paddles a single-bladed paddle on one side only. The World Championships were held every two years from 1988, becoming annual in 1998.
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.
Andrew Hamilton is a British canoeist based in Nottingham, England. He competed in slalom canoeing C1 from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s and whitewater racing, single canoe (C1) and double canoe (C2) for Great Britain between 2000 and 2010.
The Wildwater Canoeing World Championships are an international event in canoeing organized by the International Canoe Federation. The World Championships have taken place every two years from 1959 to 1995 and then from 1996 to 2001, from 2011 the event is annual.
Lachlan Bassett is an Australian male canoeist who was a finalist at the senior level at the 2018 and 2019 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships.
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