CANOEING FOR ALL

Australian Wildwater Championships Event

2011-12-11T03:13:00.000-08:00

Event Calendar 2012 : Australian Wildwater Championships Event

Start Date	:	06 Jan 2012
Event End Date	:	07 Jan 2012
Organised by	:	Canoe Tasmania
Event Location	:	Mersey River, Tasmania
Country	:	Australia
Type of Event	:	Classic and Rapid Sprint
Level of Event	:	International
Age Level	:	Juniors - Seniors - Masters
Entries Close	:	18 Dec 2011
Contact Name	:	Andrea McQuitty
Contact Address	:	4 Beach St, Leith, Tasmania 7315
Mobile	:	0407407001
Email Address	:	canoe.tas.@canoe.rog.au
Event Website	:	http://canoe2012.canoe.org.au

The 2012 Australian Wildwater Championships consists of the Rapid Sprint (Jan 6) and Classic Race (Jan7), followed by an Australian Team Selection Race on Jan 8

The Top 5 Canoe & Kayak Tips

2011-11-21T07:35:00.001-08:00

The two main obstacles to every paddler’s advancement is the shortage of boating buddies as well as the lack of skill development. It certainly is more enjoyable to paddle canoes and kayaks with others but this is not the only impetus propelling one’s search for a paddling companion. Kayaking and canoeing in groups is a simple matter of safety as well as the best way to improve one’s skills. Every whitewater kayaker knows the disappointment of finding out that the local river is at optimal conditions only to remember there is no one to go with. Regardless of the level at which you canoe or kayak, this list of 5 suggestions will help you not only find new paddling friends it will also help you further hone your skills.

1. Go to Canoe and Kayak Festivals & Expos

Going to canoe and kayak festivals is by far the most exciting way to grow in this sport. These events offer a great venue to meet other boaters, try out new equipment, take a free lesson, find great deals on gear, and even watch the pros doing what we love best. Paddling festivals occur all over the country and at different times of the year. It is conceivable that a person could actually fill up his or her paddling calendar just by traveling from event to event. Check out the “Festivals & Events” section of this site to learn specifics about the different paddling events around the U.S.

2. Join a Local Canoe and Kayak Club

Almost everywhere there is water you will find a local paddling club. Paddling clubs are great for the simple reason that they are made up of regular people who are looking for a way to connect with others who share their passion. Joining a club usually provides members with two main things. First, there will always be someone you can learn from. Second, you can usually find someone who paddles at the same ability as you which always makes thing more enjoyable. Visit the “Associations & Clubs” section of this site to find a club near you.

3.      Join the American Canoe Association and the American Whitewater Association

The American Canoe Association is the foremost authority on canoeing and kayaking in this country. American Whitewater advocates for boaters rights and river conservation. There are a few reasons to join these associations. Each membership comes with a publication on the latest news and events around the country with regard to paddling. They also have post the latest standards, tips, and information that every paddler should make sure they know. Finally, since these associations are nonprofit organizations, your membership serves as a donation to the causes of the sport you love so much

4.      Try Out Other People’s Canoe and Kayak Gear

The most useful way for you to understand how the equipment you use affects your paddling is to try out all types boats, paddles, gloves, and whatever else you can get your hands on. I always recommend trying out the boat before you buy it. Many shops will charge you for the right to demo one of their kayaks. Every time you are on the water is an opportunity for you to try out other people’s kayaks and canoes. Most boaters will welcome the chance to swap boats with you while in an eddy or at your favorite surf spot. Your best bet and first round of boat swaps should be among you and your friends. To learn more about the different kayaking gear and canoeing gear go to the "Gear &Equipment" Section of this site.

5.      Take a Canoe or Kayak Paddling Lesson

The best way to improve your paddling skills is to take a lesson. Its one thing to learn a sport informally through the help of others and it is a completely different thing to learn the proper technique that will advance your skills to the next level. This tip goes for paddlers of all levels. If you are just starting out, take a beginner’s lesson. If you are an intermediate take a more advanced class. Even if you consider yourself an expert, why not become a certified instructor? There are even whitewater kayaking schools, if that's the genre you're into. With each lesson you take your level of ability will increase by leaps and bounds.

Source : here

SEA Games: Myanmar takes swipe at Indonesian hosts

2011-11-21T06:54:00.001-08:00

PALEMBANG — A leading Myanmar sports chief has criticized Indonesia's handling of the Southeast Asian Games, a report said Monday, vowing his nation will do better as hosts of the competition in 2013.

The run-up to Indonesia's Games, co-hosted by Palembang and Jakarta, was peppered with issues including delays in building venues and struggles to secure enough accommodation for athletes and officials.

Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw will host the next SEA Games in 2013, 44 years after the country last held the event, and a senior sports official pledged to learn from Indonesia's mistakes, Singapore's Today newspaper reported.

"Myanmar will do better, maybe better than Palembang. We will try our best," Naw Tawng, Myanmar's chef-de-mission at the Games, was quoted as saying in a rare swipe at a current Games host.

"We observed how to operate and do the opening and closing ceremonies, and secondly, for all the sports. Thirdly, (areas like) the accommodation and transportation."

The former Myanmar Football Federation general-secretary said issues at the at the 40,000-capacity Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium during the opening ceremony pointed to wider organisational problems.

"There were no ushers. The VIP and public entrances at the main stadium in Palembang were the same. It was very confusing after the opening ceremony and not safe," he said.

Naw Tawng also promised accommodation would not be an issue in 2013, with around 25 hotels in Naypyidaw and a further 40 in Yangon able to handle the visitors.

Around 7,000 athletes and 2,500 supporting officials from 11 nations are expected to descend on reclusive Myanmar for the 2013 Games.

Indonesian Games organizers have admitted they struggled to be ready for the competition but blame a government failure to release key funds to complete building work. — AFP

Source : here

Hungary's Renata Csay Collects her 10th Gold Medal in Singapore

2011-11-13T13:20:00.001-08:00

The final day of the 2011 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championship came to a close in Singapore with the K2 men senior, K2 women senior and C2 senior titles awarded to Hungary and Spain.

Men's K2

In the K2 men senior category, world champions Alvaro Fernandez and Walter Bouzan (ESP) successfully defended their title with a winning time of 2:05:46, ahead of Romain Marcaud and Edwin Lucas (FRA) and Michael Odvarko and Jakub Adam (CZE) in second and third place respectively. Two-time K2 senior gold medalist Fernandez said, “Our strategy today was run as fast as possible on the portage and conserve energy in the water, and we did it. I am very happy to win my second gold medal in the World Championships.”

Woman's K2

The intense humidity affected some of the teams competing in the K2 women senior race. K1 women senior silver medalist Anna Alberti and team mate, Susanna Cicali from Italy retired before reaching the quarter-mark of their first lap. The K2 women senior race saw three other teams – RSA, GBR and ESP – pulling out by third lap as they tried to manage the heat. There were also teams who thrived on the challenging conditions with the Hungarians, leaders Renata Csay and Ramona Farkasdi and fellow teammates Krisztina Bedocs and Alexandra Bara, putting up a strong performance in the waters and on the portage. Their impressive feat led to a one-two finish for the Hungarians and the Spanish duo of Maria Perez and Naiara Gomez added a bronze to their medal tally. “It was a very hard race, my partner and I could have gone at a higher speed and I am very happy to win my tenth gold medal. I will be back next year,” said Csay whose latest win equals Spaniard Manuel Busto’s career best of 10 gold medals in the Canoe Marathon World Championships.

Men's C2

Hungary

also ruled in the C2 men senior race as Attila Gyore and Marton Kover beat second place Eduard Shemetylo and Olek Shpak (UKR) and third place Mateusz Kaminski and Plawski Bartosz (POL) with a winning time of 2:01:57.

The 19th edition of the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships saw a total participation of 39 nations and a record of 12 Asian nations, and also marked the first time a canoe world championship event takes place in Asia. “The Singapore Canoe Federation as a first-time host for a world championship has done a good job in organising this event. The Marina Bay right in the heart of the city set against the beautiful cityscape of Singapore is a perfect venue for water sports events like canoeing and kayaking. We have enjoyed Singapore’s wonderful hospitality and hope to return in the near future,” said Istvan Vaskuti, 1st Vice President of the International Canoe Federation who was in Singapore for the World Championships.

The 20th edition of ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships will take place in Rome, Italy from 18 to 23 September 2012.

Photos: © Singapore Canoe Federation

Medal Tally

Canoe Marathon World Championships - Medal Tally

K1, K2, C1 and C2 – Junior, Under-23 and Senior categories:

Countries	Gold	Silver	Bronze	TOTAL
HUN	6	3	6	15
ESP	3	2	2	7
NOR	2			2
POL	1	1	1	3
GER	1			1
AUS	1			1
RSA	1			1
GBR		2	1	3
FRA		2		2
CZE		1	3	4
SWE		1	1	2
UKR		1		1
ITA		1		1
POR		1		1
DEN		1		1
POL			1	1

Canoe Marathon Asian Championships - Medal Tally

K1, K2, C1 and C2 – Junior, Under-23 and Senior categories:

Countries	Gold	Silver	Bronze	TOTAL
SIN	7	7	2	16
INA	2	1		3
IND	1	3	1	5
JPN	1	2	2	5
CHN	1		1	2
IRI	1			1
HKG	1			1
KAZ	1			1
THA			1	1

Source : here

Kauzer is Golden and Lefevre/Gargaud Chanut Make History

2011-11-13T11:49:00.003-08:00

Bratislava, Slovakia - A very fitting end to the 2011 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships; the final results of some key races would have surprised even the most seasoned bookmaker.

Men's K1 World Champion Peter Kauzer (SLO)

On a day that drew the greatest number of fans, history was made by the Slovakian brothers Pavol and Peter Hochschorner when they won a 5th world championship, their fourth title in a row. The Men’s K2 duo of Fabien Lefevre and Denis Gargaud Chanut (FRA) both walked away with a grand total of seven medals (4 for Lefevre and 3 for Gargaud Chanut). It is the first time a single nation has accomplished this at a Canoe

Slalom World Championships.

Men’s K1

Men's K1 defending Champion
Daniele Molmenti (ITA)

The Men’s K1 lived up to its billing as one of canoeing's blue ribbon events. There was the defending World Champion Daniel Molmenti and Boris Neveu (FRA), who led the semi-final. The Gold medal went to Peter Kauzer (SLO), who is now assured of a spot at the London Olympic Games next year.

“I am really psyched because I killed 2 flies at the same time; I won the Worlds and regained my title and I’m safe for the Olympics,” Kauzer said. “I made some mistakes in my run, but this is sport, sometimes you can have not such a good run but it is still enough for a win.” The Silver medallist was Mateusz Polaczyk (POL) and Bronze went to history maker Fabien Lefevre (FRA) who went on to win two other medals at the Championships.

On the expectations that follow him, Molmenti said, “I had to defend my title from last year, that is never easy and there was a lot of pressure, more than you would experience going into a normal race. But I had all the cards to do it. I posted a really good time 2 days ago, I had a good run in the semi final, even with a few mistakes.”

Molmeni continued, “The final for me was a strange race, I touched gate number 5, the water pulled the boat up and the boat touched the gate lightly. I call it an unlucky touch because you can do nothing about it. From that point I lost my focus a bit, then I made a big mistake on the drop, with all these mistakes I came 4th which is not bad – 4th in the World. Physically my preparation was good; I felt really good. I will repeat the same preparation for the Olympic Games and from a technical point I know what to do to stay at the highest level.”

Men’s C1

A part of history Denis Garchaud Chanut (FRA)
wins the Men's C1 event

This was the highly anticipated event that didn’t quite unfold as was expected; Tony Estanguet (FRA) did not qualify for the finals leaving his biggest rival Michal Martikan, to thrill the home crowd all by himself. It became evident earlier in the race that the cards were stacked against Martikan, amidst blaring music and crowd support, Martikan rocketed through the first part of the course with monumental speed, but very soon after he encountered a major problem that would see him accrue a 50sec penalty – he had missed a gate! It became evident then that he would not be posting a medal winning time, and he eventually ended his race in 7th place. The Gold medal went to Denis Gargaud Chanut (FRA), whose great achievement has now blown open the race to the London Olympic Games. The Silver medal went to Nico Bettge (GER) and rising star Matej Benus (SVK) the Bronze.

Women’s C1

Bronze medallist Women's C1
Katerina Macova (SVK)

This event created arguably the biggest surprise of the World Championships. The win went to the Czech Republic’s Katerina Hoskova who is now twice lucky on the Cunovo, Hoskova has won the U-23 World Championships in Bratislava and was the only one of the C1 ladies to have a penalty free race. The ever consistent Naquin Cen (CHN) had been impressing the fans all weekend and took home a deserved Silver medal. Katerina Macova (SVK) came in the third place winning the Bronze medal. This has been the first time since the event's conception that an Australian has not secured a podium place. Rosalyn Lawrence (AUS) who was the World Cup Series winner and teammate Leanne Guinea both did not qualify for the final leaving only one Australian, the 2010 World Champion Jessica Fox to go into the finals. The usually in form Fox was a shadow of herself and she finished in 8th place.

Teams Events

Lefevre / Gargaud Chanut (FRA) picked up the Gold medal for the Men’s C2 teams event, their second medal together and their third each. Slovakia came in second place and Great Britain 3rd.

Fabien Lefevre (FRA)
wins Men's K1 Team Event medal

and makes history

In the Women’s K1 teams event, the Slovakian trio of Elena Kaliska, Jana Dukatova and Dana Mann sealed the victory over the Czech Republic who took the Silver medal and Germany who came in 3rd place.

In the Men’s K1 team event, Germany took the Gold medal followed by France (Le Fevre picked up his 4th medal in this event) of the Championships, followed by Italy.

There would be something to smile about for the Australian women who had missed out on the individual medals, they completely knocked their challengers out of play when they won the C1 team event with a 15 second lead over 2nd placed China; Germany came in 3rd place.

In a convincing Men’s C1 team event win, Slovakia took home the Gold medal, followed by Germany with a Silver medal and Bronze for the Czech Republic.

Source : here

Canadian Women Claim K4 Gold Medals at Pan-Am Games

2011-11-13T11:35:00.001-08:00

The Canadian Women’s K4 team claimed gold medals yesterday at the Pan American Games on Wednesday.

Kathleen Fraser of Oakville, Ont., Ottawa’s Kristin Gauthier, Alexa Irvin of Kentville, N.S., and Una Lounder of Dartmouth, N.S., finished first in the K4 500 in one minute 37.724 seconds.

(L-R) Una Lounder, Kristin Gauthier, Alexa Irvin
and Kathleen Fraser of Canada pose at the podium
after receiving their gold medal in women's kayak four K4 500m
at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara October 26, 2011.
Photograph by: Mariana Bazo, Reuters

“It was a really good race,” Lounder said. “At the end, we weren’t even sure if we won, and we were so excited when we saw it was gold.

“I raced in the K4 last year at the Pan Am championships and finished out of the medals, so I’m happy with this result. This is really great to start off on a high note and we are looking forward to cheering on the rest of the team.”

Mexico grabbed the silver in 1:37.799, while Cuba won the bronze in 1:39.105.

Postmedia News - October 26, 2011

2011 Pan American Games, Guadalajara (Mexico)

The Pan-American Games occur every four years on the year before the Olympic Games. This year it will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico Games from 14 – 30 October 2011. it is the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics. More than 6000 athletes from the Americas will be participating in 36 different sports. Several thousands of spectators are expected to take in the sports programmes and activities surrounding.

Canoeing competitions at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara will be held from October 26 to October 29 at the Rowing and Canoeing Course in Ciudad Guzmán. Canoe Slalom will not be held. This is the first time that our Continental Games (Pan American Games) will also serve as a Continental Olympic Qualifier.

Source : here

SEA Games: Geraldine Lee bags Singapore’s first canoeing win

2011-11-13T11:19:00.001-08:00

It was a lung—bursting race to the finish for canoeist Geraldine Lee in the women’s K1 500m at Cipule Lake on Saturday.

Lee, 24, powered home in the end in the six—woman field to clinch Singapore’s second gold of the 26th SEA Games — after James Wong’s win in the men’s discus in Palembang — with a time of 2 minutes 02.47 seconds.

Singapore's Geraldine Lee celebrates

with teammates after the medal ceremony.

(Photo by Don Wong)

Indonesian paddler Masrifah took the silver (2:04.47sec), with Thi Duyen Nguyen of Vietnam claiming the bronze (2:04:56).

Speaking to TODAY after the medal ceremony at Cipule Lake, Karawang, Lee said: "I feel very happy and I am honoured to win a gold medal for Singapore at about the same time as a veteran like James Wong. I missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games at the Asian (Canoe Sprint) Championships and that really motivated me to do well at this Games.

"I just gave the race everything I had and, in the last 100m, every part of my body was screaming (in pain). I was too tired to celebrate at the end."

Lee’s victory was a special one for the entire family, who would no doubt have toasted her golden triumph at her elder brother’s wedding dinner in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Saturday night.

Lee, who is on no—pay leave from her job as a contract executive with the Land Transport Authority, was unable to attend the wedding due to the Games.

She said: "My family was initially not so happy that I wouldn’t be able to go, but I’m going to call him (brother Lee Zhi Xiang) later with the news."

Team—mates Stephenie Chen and Suzanne Seah also gave the 13—member team something to cheer about, after finishing behind Vietnam’s Thi Hao Kieu and Thi Mai Nguyen (1:53.26) to clinch the silver medal in the women’s K2 500m in 1 minute 53.52 seconds.

Myint Myint Than and Hnin Wai Lwin of Myamnar finished third in a time of 1 minute 53.59 seconds.

Winners of the South—east Asian Canoeing Championships (women’s K4 500m), the women’s team of Wilona Lee, Andrea Chen, Annabelle Ng and Lee were looking to end Day 2 of competition on a high in the event here.

A neck—and—neck race to the finish saw the 3,000 spectators lined up along the banks of Cipule Lake cheering and screaming on the local favourites, and the Indonesians on the water did not disappoint, sprinting away in the final 100m to claim the gold in 1 minute 41.00 seconds, just 0.59 second ahead of the Singaporeans.

Thailand finished third (1:42.83).

Despite the heartbreaking loss, team manager Shaun Ho gave the team credit for their six—medal haul (one gold, three silver, two bronze) — their best performance at the SEA Games with one day of the competition to go.

Said Ho: "Our target was only one gold medal ... being able to achieve this is an amazing feeling and I’m very happy. We are hoping for more medals in tomorrow’s events."

Gold medalist Lee will feature in the women’s K4 200m today, with Team Singapore’s canoeists pencilled in for the men’s K1 200m, K2 200m, and women’s K1 200m, K2 200m and K4 200m on the final day of competition. —

Source : here

London 2012 Olympics: canoeing's chance to show it is just the ticket

2011-11-13T10:55:00.001-08:00

The Olympic-ticket second-round ballot induced the sort of panic akin to rifling through your handbag for the keys while a large salivating dog pushes at the gate.

With the athletics already gone, my tea-fuelled filleting-system was reduced to anything, so long as it didn’t involving fighting or the participants wearing squeaky shoes on a shiny court.

I ended up applying for football (oodles of space and bound to get tickets), hockey (played it at school and old enough to have had a crush on 1988 gold-winning goal scorer Imran Sherwani) and, for reasons unfathomable, the canoe sprint.

Ridiculously, deliriously, happy to have got them, I then struggled to explain to the children exactly why we were going to the canoeing. Despite having put in significant Olympic television hours since 1984, I don’t actually remember ever seeing it.

It had always seemed the younger, slightly disappointing, brother of rowing. Picture rowers and you think vest-clad, iron-jawed Olympics giants; picture canoeists and you think children on an outward-bounds holiday.

But it turns out I was wrong. Canoeing is not just for shivering people in cagoules. Of the two and a half million British people who go canoeing every year, 55 receive Olympic funding, 22 on the podium programme.

They train two or three sessions a day, 12 or 13 days in a row, on the water, the gym, the bikes and the pool. They have fancy boats made from carbon-fibre, like Formula One cars, have already won four Olympic medals and hope to win more.

Ed McKeever, John Schofield, Liam Heath and Rachael Cawthorn are all real medal prospects in the canoe sprint in 2012.

And then there is Tim Brabants, doctor, triple Olympic medallist and winner of Britain’s first Olympic canoe medal at Sydney.

Brabants, 34, put his emergency medical career on hold last February to train for London, with one goal in mind: “I’m not just doing it for the T-shirt, I want a medal preferably gold.”

Usually domestic competitions take place in front of a fairly large audience, but most of them are related to the competitors. At 2012, all the tickets are sold, many to people with less than a passing knowledge of the sport. Brabants is delighted.

“It is fantastic,” he says. “I was quite surprised actually that it wasn’t one of the three sports left where there are still tickets available.

“Internationally, canoeing is a much bigger sport than rowing. But in England, because of the strength of the public schools and the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, rowing is number one.”

Is there a rivalry? “Friendly banter. I like to think we appreciate each others skills.”

Even rowers have a way to go to reach the stratospheric levels of fame of Hungarian canoeists. There, retired canoeists enter their leisure years owning sports bars and restaurants in Budapest. And at the world sprint championships there in August, 25,000 people are likely to come and watch.

Canoeing was first an Olympic sport in 1936, and the British Canoe union was formed in the same year to send athletes to Berlin. By the London Olympics of 1948, a women’s canoe sprint was introduced.

The BCU initially had no boats, but a gift of some kayaks from a Weybridge company meant that they were able to enter each of the disciplines, which took place at Henley.

There was no Olympic village, so competitors either stayed in RAF camps or, if they were female, London colleges. Food-wise, competitors were given the same special food rations as dockers and miners — 5,467 calories.

This is not dissimilar to today’s recommended amount for canoeists, but would have contained rather more eggs than you would like to think about.

The BCU have no record of the whereabouts of any British 1948 canoeists, but Laurence Oliver, 68, paddled (not rowed) at Mexico 20 years later.

He remembers with great fondness his wooden boat with a beautiful veneer, lovely smell and flat wooden paddles.

His parents didn’t catch any of his races on television, but he remembers watching Alastair Wilson on telly in 1964 on a lake and “all you could see was far-off figures through the mist.”

This time round, the red button and countless pull-out supplements should mean that not one of the competitors in the 12 canoe sprints at Dorney Lake, Eton, is reduced to a mysterious figure in the mist.

For canoeing, for handball and all those niche sports hiding in the wings, 2012 is their chance to grab the public’s imagination. They will have capacity crowds of people just thrilled to be there. I now know the difference between a kayak and a canoe and I can’t wait.

Source : here

London 2012 Olympics: Favela boy Nivalter Santos aiming to steer his way to a medal

2011-11-13T10:46:00.001-08:00

It is just under 6,000 miles from Brazil’s impoverished east coast to London, but it is not just the vast distances that make Nivalter Santos’s journey to the capital for next year’s Olympics so unlikely.

Spool back to Santos’s teenage years, and thoughts of sparkling stadiums and medal podiums were the stuff of idle fantasy. He was living in Vicente, in Sao Paulo state, in the notorious favela known as ‘Mexico 70’, where he dreamed of earning a living as a street juggler.

“I took a course,” he said. “After finishing it, myself and some friends wanted to form a group of jugglers. We were young and did not have jobs and we had the idea to juggle at traffic lights to earn money. But then I discovered canoeing.”

Or perhaps rediscovered. As a young boy, growing up in a sleepy town in the state of Sergipe, Santos would sometimes paddle his father’s little fishing boat along the local river for fun. When his parents separated, the opportunity to practise his rowing skills disappeared from the boy’s life along with his father. But when, aged 17, a friend offered the chance to take up canoeing lessons, he did not think twice.

The only issue was the cost – 20 Brazilian reais (£7.90) per month. Nivalter only had half the money.

“My friend said he would pay the other half to see if I liked it after one month and then my sister paid for a time,” said Nivalter. “After that I stopped because I did not work and I did not want to ask for money from my mother because I knew that she already worked hard to support us.”

But Pedro Sena, Nivalter’s coach, had already spotted rare potential in his newest recruit and decided he could not allow him to drop out.

“I said I would pay his monthly fee, and that I believed he could go far in this sport,” he said. “Nivalter showed dedication and great interest in learning the techniques of the sport. He grabbed my attention, making me believe he could make the Brazilian juniors. After a month he was the best junior in Brazil.”

Despite being nearly 17 when he started formal training, Nivalter soon began winning against much more experienced rivals. “I remember in my first competition I saw a girl dressed in the Brazilian uniform and I said to myself, ‘One day I’m going to represent Brazil’,” he recalled.

In 2007 he won bronze at the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro in the C1 500m sprint. The following year in Beijing he reached semi-finals in the 500m and 1,000m, an achievement he looks ready to improve on in London.

“My biggest dreams are to become an Olympic medallist and to see my mother recover, because she had an accident when a car hit her as she was going to work. After 10 days she left hospital but her head is no longer the same, it is muddled.”

Sena is confident that in 2012 Nivalter can make a genuine challenge for medals. “In London we will have the chance that we have longed for and dreamed of every day,” he said. “He will be one of the best in the world. There are few who make it as an Olympic athlete but he has got there with guts and not giving up, despite the odds.”

Source : here

Canoeing could be perfect for an action-packed sport

2011-11-13T08:09:00.001-08:00

If you're on the look-out for an action-packed sport and don't mind getting wet, canoeing could be perfect for you.

There are two types of canoeing races - sprint racing and slalom.

In slalom, the aim is to paddle as fast as possible down a turbulent course, through a number of gates, without touching or missing any of the poles that define these gates.

Paddlers travel downstream through green gates and upstream (against the flow) through red gates, with between 18 and 25 gates on a course.

A two-second penalty is added to a paddler's finishing time for hitting a gate, and a fifty-second penalty is incurred for missing a gate.

Sprint racing takes place on flat water over distances of 200m, 500m and 1000m on a straight course, with up to nine boats, each in a separate lane.

Races are in singles, doubles and fours, for both Canadian canoes and kayaks. The winner is whoever finishes in the fastest time.

EQUIPMENT

There are two types of canoe used at the Olympics - the Canadian and the kayak.

Canadian canoes can be used for both sprint and slalom racing, and are paddled from a kneeling position using a single-bladed paddle.

Kayaks are propelled from a seated position, using a long, double-bladed paddle. They also have a rudder for sprint racing.

Source : here