CANOEING

WHAT IS CANOEING?

Canoeing as a sport was introduced by Scottish explorer, John MacGregor. He founded the Royal Canoe Club in 1866. The first canoeing competition, which was called the Paddling Challenged Club, was organized by the club in 1874. Other forms of canoeing as a sport are: canoe racing, canoe polo, playboating, extreme racing, canoe marathon, whitewater slalom, and surf skiing. Some recreational uses are: small-craft sailing, whitewater, sea kayak, and canoe camping. Canoeing began as a noncompetitive recreation and for a majority of canoeists remained such, involving paddling on local streams and lakes, extended tours, sometimes in North America repaddling the waters of earlier missionaries, explorers, and voyageurs. Canoeing was also combined for many enthusiasts with fishing, hunting, and camping trips. Wild-water, or white-water, canoeing on rivers with rapids and surf canoeing in the ocean also became popular. The development of recreational canoeing was furthered after World War II in North America by the proliferation of small aircraft that permitted canoeists to reach remote wilderness waters not used since the Indians and voyageurs travelled them. The traditional dominance of Hungary and Germany was interrupted at the 2015 World Championships in Milan, Italy, as Belarus became the first country this century, excluding those two, to finish with the outright most gold medals at a single world championships. Maryna Litvinchuk was the only person to win three gold medals at that event. A female representing Belarus has only won an Olympic gold medal (summer only) in athletics and rowing.

HISTORY

Canoeing is a type of paddle sport. In this type, the rider kneels or sits facing forward in an open or a closed-decked canoe. The rider props the canoe using a single-bladed paddle. In the 1860s John MacGregor, a Scottish lawyer, sportsman, traveler, and philanthropist, was a major figure in the development of canoeing as recreation and sport. He designed sailing canoes, which were decked and provided with a mast and sail as well as paddles, traveled in them throughout Europe and in the Middle East, and promoted their use in lectures and books. Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, designed a series of canoes with sails in the 1870s, and thereafter his and MacGregor’s canoes followed a separate course of development from the paddled canoe. A type of decked sailing canoe was recognized by the International Canoe Federation (ICF) after World War II, and in 1970 the sail canoe became a one-design class (a racing division in which all boats are built to the same measurements) in yachting. Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other activities such as canoe camping, or where canoeing is merely a transportation method used to accomplish other activities. Most present-day canoeing is done as or as a part of a sport or recreational activity. In some parts of Europe canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an open canoe. Throughout the last quarter of the 20th century recreational canoeing continued to grow rapidly in popularity, particularly in North America. In 1995 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that approximately 14 million people or about 6 percent of the population had canoed in the previous year. Participation percentages for Canada and Europe are similar. Commercial canoe liveries operate on almost all major rivers in the United States and Canada. Most national, state, and provincial parks with canoeable waters have designated canoe routes and travel loops available to visitors. Canoeing is an ancient mode of transportation. Modern recreational canoeing was established in the late 19th century. In 1924, canoeing associations from Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden founded the Internationalen Representation for Kanusport, forerunner of the International Canoe Federation. Canoeing became part of the Olympic Games in the summer of 1936. The main form of competitive sport was canoe sprint using a sprint canoe. Others include canoe polo, whitewater canoeing, canoe marathon, ICF canoe marathon, and playboating. 고스톱