Canoe Marathon
In the sport of Canoe Marathon, athletes paddle a kayak or canoe over a long distance, often with out-of-water sections in which they may carry their canoe.
Canoe marathon traditionally involved competitors racing from one point to another across rivers, lakes and ocean waters, while also having to navigate around any obstacles and even carry the boat if necessary. To make the sport more spectator-friendly, courses have been created to be covered in laps with some portages (artificial or real obstacles).
The standard distances are up to 30 km, many races are significantly longer. In 2019 new sprint disciplines over 3.60 kilometres for both kayak and canoe were added. Racers are generally divided into different classes, e.g. K1, K2, K4, C1, C2, C3, C6
Marathon canoeing events require you to carry the canoe in sections out of the waterthe 1960s that international canoe marathon competitions began to develop. The ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships is an International Canoe Federation competition in canoe marathon. The World Championships were held every two years from 1988, becoming an annual event since 1998. Marathon canoeing is also a sport at the World Games.
Similar Sports
- Canoeing — paddle sport in which the rider kneels or sits facing forward in a canoe.
- Ice Canoeing — a team sport in which a five-member crew complete a course, in which riders have to push their canoe on the frozen parts of the river as well as row in the water.
- Open Water Swimming — competitive swimming races conducted over various distances (10km at the Olympics) held in rivers, lakes and oceans.
Related Pages
- About Paddling Sports
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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