Equipment
Racing canoes and kayaks are extremely narrow and balancing in them requires some skill. Boats used in competition must meet international standards governing length and minimum weight. There are one, two and four-person kayaks and canoes, as well as a 15-person war canoe. The main race distances are 200, 500 and 1000 metres. The 200 metre is a pure sprint event which attracts paddlers with the fastest raw speed. Endurance is a bigger factor in the 1000 and 500 metre events. Athletes usually specialize in an event later in their career.
Kayakers use a double-bladed paddle and are seated in the boat. They have a rudder for steering and control a stick with their feet.
Canoers balance on one knee and paddle only on one side of the boat. They steer entirely with their paddle and do a “J” stroke to make the boat run straight. In crew boats, the back person of the canoe steers but in kayak it’s the “stroke” or front person who controls the rudder. The stroke also sets the rate and synchronization is key for crew boat performance. Canoers specialize on the right side or left and are paired up with the opposite-sided paddler for crew boats.
Kayakers use a double-bladed paddle and are seated in the boat. They have a rudder for steering and control a stick with their feet.
Canoers balance on one knee and paddle only on one side of the boat. They steer entirely with their paddle and do a “J” stroke to make the boat run straight. In crew boats, the back person of the canoe steers but in kayak it’s the “stroke” or front person who controls the rudder. The stroke also sets the rate and synchronization is key for crew boat performance. Canoers specialize on the right side or left and are paired up with the opposite-sided paddler for crew boats.
Competition
Nine boats line up head-to-head, spaced across the race course in nine-metre wide lanes. A starting gate system is often used to hold the nose of each boat and drops below the water with the starting signal. At the finish line competitors give a final “shoot” by throwing their weight backwards and pushing the nose of the boat forward to edge out the competition. The paddler must cross the line in their boat for the result to count. Digital timing systems are used to clock the competitor’s finish right down to the thousandth of a second.
A typical competition format starts with preliminary heats in which the fastest boats advance to semis and finals. Sometimes the top finishers in a heat will qualifying directly for the final. The fastest qualifier is seated in the middle lane with the next fastest on either side, right out until lanes one and nine. Competitors must stay within the middle section of their nine-metre lane to prevent them from gaining an advantage by riding the wash of a leading boat.
There are also longer distance races like the 5000 metre that begin with a mass start. Conventional lanes are thrown to the wayside as paddlers do loops of the course. They jockey for positions around the turns, strategize, and ride wash with their competitors to conserve energy for the final breakaway in a true test of on-water endurance.
A typical competition format starts with preliminary heats in which the fastest boats advance to semis and finals. Sometimes the top finishers in a heat will qualifying directly for the final. The fastest qualifier is seated in the middle lane with the next fastest on either side, right out until lanes one and nine. Competitors must stay within the middle section of their nine-metre lane to prevent them from gaining an advantage by riding the wash of a leading boat.
There are also longer distance races like the 5000 metre that begin with a mass start. Conventional lanes are thrown to the wayside as paddlers do loops of the course. They jockey for positions around the turns, strategize, and ride wash with their competitors to conserve energy for the final breakaway in a true test of on-water endurance.