Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other activities such as canoe camping, or where canoeing is merely a transportation method used to accomplish other activities. Most present-day canoeing is done as or as a part of a sport or recreational activity. In some parts of Europe canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an open canoe.
A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak used for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and oceans. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the manoeuvrability of whitewater kayaks for higher cruising speed, cargo capacity, ease of straight-line paddling (tracking), and comfort for long journeys.
Whitewater kayaking is an adventure sport where a river is navigated in a decked kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles. River running; where the paddler follows a river and paddles rapids as they travel. Creeking usually involving smaller, steeper, and more technical waterways. Creek boats tend to be short but high volume to allow for manoeuvrability while maintaining buoyancy. Slalom requires paddlers to navigate through "gates". Slalom is the only whitewater event to be in the Olympics. Play boating involves staying on one feature of the river and is more artistic than the others. Squirt boating uses low-volume boats to perform special moves in whitewater features.
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 Scottish Canoe Association is the national governing body for canoeing, kayaking and other paddlesport in Scotland.
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.
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.
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.
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 British Canoeing.
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.
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.
The Hasler Series is the British national club championship in the sport of marathon canoeing, a long distance form of canoe racing, governed by the Marathon Racing Committee and supported by British Canoeing (BC).
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.
Nigel Foster is an English sea kayaker, kayak designer, instructor and author. He is the first and youngest paddler to circle Iceland by kayak.
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.
Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of Northern America.
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.
