ICF Wildwater Canoeing Committee activities

New nations feature at World Cups 

The ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Cup races in Veles, North Macedonia and Mezzana, Italy in June showed that the interest of some new nations in whitewater has been awakened. The ICF Wildwater Canoeing Committee successfully organised its first seminar for coaches in Veles. In Mezzana, we were once again shown how dependent we are on external weather conditions as the courses of the World Cup races had to be moved at short notice due to heavy rainfall and the associated flooding in order to ensure the safety of the athletes.

Athlete development activities in Dallenwill 

The ECA Junior and U23 European Championships in Dallenwill, Switzerland, provided a successful start to this year's athlete development programme with the support of the ECA.  

A total of 15 young athletes from four new nations for Wildwater Canoeing learnt the basics of our discipline and were able to successfully run the course and achieve some good results at the European Championships despite the difficult conditions due to the high-water level. The aim was to prepare some of these athletes for the World Championships in August. It was the largest Junior and U23 European Championships to date with 278 athletes from 20 nations.

Paris 2024 experience 

I used a short visit to Paris to promote our discipline to the representatives of the nations and to gain an insight into the complex organisation of the Olympic Games. Participation in the ICF Board Meeting at the new French Canoe Federation headquarters was also on the programme.

World Championships sets new benchmarks 

For the first time, the ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Championships took place in the middle of August. In the heart of Spain, we found an ideal river that carries enough water throughout the summer and still offers enough whitewater to organise a successful World Championships. There was great interest from the nations. The fact that in the end all athletes from the 27 participating nations were able to compete is thanks to the helpfulness of some countries who assisted both the development athletes and the overseas nations with material. Special thanks go to the athletes who networked with each other and made these logistics possible and, of course, once again to the teams from Czechia and Paddle UK, who helped with their support at all levels. 

During the World Championships, a development camp was held with 12 athletes and three coaches and one assistant participating. The athletes and coaches were very satisfied with the support, the organisation and the fact that they were able to improve their whitewater skills. A nations meeting were also staged with more than 60 participants interested in the discussion of the future of Wildwater Canoeing with the main topics including the calendar, development activities and the future of team events. This discussion will be continued online during the winter season. 

A total of four new Wildwater Canoeing ITO’s passed their examination during the assessment in Spain. 

Some history was also made in Sabero with the first official women’s C1 team event and the first-ever medal for Spain in the history of the ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Championships. 

End of season 

The whitewater season is not over yet. After the ICF ranking and Pre-World Championships in Ceske Budejovice at the end of August, further ICF ranking races and ECA Cups will be held until the middle of November. 

By Manuela Gawehn, Chair of the ICF Wildwater Canoeing Committee