European Canoe Association activities

Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games    

This summer, Europe hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was an extraordinary Games if we were to believe national delegations, athletes and the media. For many, it was also an opportunity to discover or rediscover Paris with these Games showcasing the many historical monuments of Paris. It was an innovative Olympics for canoeing, with the debut of kayak cross, a discipline that sparked the enthusiasm of the public. We will remember the exceptional performances of Jessica Fox, double Olympic champion in kayak and canoe.  

For the French Canoe Federation (FFCK), these Games were also an opportunity to build a legacy with the Olympic and Paralympic venue - Vaires-sur Marne Nautical Stadium - able to host sprint and slalom events in the future. Their new headquarters is at the entrance to the Olympic venue, with a surface area of 1700m2 to develop the activities of the National Federation. This headquarters, delivered before the Games, made it possible to welcome our canoe family and partners with the ICF and the ECA as part of the ceremonies.

ECA Board meeting  

An online meeting was held on September 11 with several important items on the agenda. The first concerned the statutes of the ECA. A working group had been focused on it for almost a year. A reminder of the approach, various meetings and stages were made before presenting the statutes point by point. A total of 17 proposals were made and submitted to the Board for approval. 

The various discussions resulted in proposals supported by the Board. A simplification of the vocabulary used will be carried out to make the document even more understandable for non-English speakers in connection with the working group and the Board. These statutes will be sent to the Member Federations by September 24 to be submitted for approval at the Extraordinary Congress scheduled for Saturday, November 9, 2024, as part of the ICF Congress in Antalya. 

The second was with regard to the ECA development project. The President recalls the different stages of the construction of this plan – constitution of the working group, meetings, survey etc. After analysing the situation of the ECA, the programme identifies five areas of intervention - the ECA as a Continental Federation, ECA Member Federations, competitions and events, high performance and sport for all. 

For each area, the vision, priorities, actions to be carried out and the reasons that explained these choices were presented. In a second step, the method with which it will be possible to implement this plan was presented by programming year after year the actions to be carried out by the Board which is in charge of implementing this plan, according to the human and financial resources available to the ECA. 

As far as the calendar is concerned, the awarding of the 2026 European Multisport Championships is still pending, which is delaying the awarding of some competitions. However, the Board was able to decide to award the organisation of the 2026 European Ocean Racing Championships to Brest – France.

ECA European Championships 

As always, the competition calendar has been dense this summer in Europe with several European championships. 

• The European Freestyle Championships in Graz, Austria, which saw the exceptional performance of Great Britain's Ottilie Robinson–Shaw, double European champion, as well as the victory of France, Poland, Germany and Ireland in the other categories.
• The European Marathon Championships in Poznan, Poland, end of July. Events were organized in junior and senior categories. In this category, Babak, Campos, Kiszli and Pedersen won.
• The Junior and U23 European Slalom Championships in mid-August in Krakow, Poland, where France finished first among the nations with 20 medals, including 9 gold, ahead of Czechia and Great Britain.
• The Wildwater European Championships was organized in Dallenwil, Switzerland. Czechia dominated these championships ahead of France. A training camp was also organized on the sidelines of this competition.

Bulgarian Canoe Federation's 100th anniversary  

The Bulgarian Canoe Federation celebrated its centenary in Sofia on July 16. The beautiful festive ceremony honoured its leaders, athletes and coaches. A book has also been published about this. Bulgaria is one of the oldest Member Federations in Europe. 

By Jean Zoungrana, European Canoe Association President