International canoe set for bumper 2018

Nine World Championships, including a Stand Up Paddling world title, a Youth Olympic Games and a return to Olympic venues in Rio and Atlanta are among the highlights in an action-packed 2018 events calendar for the International Canoe Federation.

2018 will see World Championships in canoe slalom, canoe sprint, canoe marathon, canoe polo, dragon boat, wildwater and provisionally the ICF’s first ever SUP world titles, along with U23 and junior competitions in both sprint and slalom.

"With ten individual disciplines under the banner of the International Canoe Federation, we are used to busy years," ICF President, Jose Perurena, said.

"This year the line-up looks exceptional, with events all over the world, including four former Olympic venues. And the possible addition of our first ever SUP World Championships is particularly exciting for the sport."

Portugal, which is already hosting the 2018 Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe, and the Canoe Marathon World Championships, is also set to host the inaugural ICF Stand Up Paddling world titles in late August.

The SUP World Championships, provisionally set down from August 30 until September 2 in Esposende and Viana do Castelo, will come between the canoe sprint and canoe marathon events in Montemor and Prado Vila Verde respectively.

Canoe slalom will return to the Deodoro Olympic venue in Rio for the 2018 World Championships in September, while the canoeing stars of the future will be on display at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in October.

Barcelona will host the qualifying event for the Games in April, and will include the first ever training camp in the unique YOG format to allow paddlers from throughout the world to familiarise themselves with the slalom/sprint hybrid style.

The U23 and Junior canoe sprint World Championships will be held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, while Ivrea in Italy will host the slalom under age world titles.

Underlining the international reach of canoeing, North America will host the 2018 Canoe Polo and Dragon Boat World Championships.

Welland, Canada, will welcome the canoe polo world titles in August, while Lake Lanier, Gainesville – home of the 1996 Olympic canoeing program – will host this year’s world dragon boat championships in September.

Muota, Switzerland, will be the home of the 2018 Wildwater World Championships in June.

Along with a busy World Championships program, the ICF will also host several World Cup events, including slalom events at former Olympic venues in La Seu (Barcelona 1992) and Augsburg (Munich 1972).

The full 2018 schedule can be found at https://canoeicf.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2cbee736331aa45e1311e6e8c&id=2733562a4f&e=e2b01db73e

The main ICF events for 2018 are;

APRIL

*12-15 Youth Olympic Games Canoeing World Qualification, Barcelona, Spain

MAY

31-June 3 ICF Wildwater World Championships, Muota, Switzerland

JULY

*17-22 ICF Canoe Slalom Jnr and U23 World Championships – Ivrea, Italy

*26-29 ICF Canoe Sprint Jnr and U23 World Championships – Plovdiv, Bulgaria

AUGUST

July 31- August 5 ICF Canoe Polo World Championships, Welland, Canada

*22-26 ICF Canoe Sprint/Paracanoe World Championships, Montemor o Velho, Portugal

30-Sept 2 ICF Stand Up Paddling World Championships (provisionally), Esposende/Viana do Castelo, Portugal

SEPTEMBER

6-9 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships, Prado Vila Verde, Portugal

*7-9 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup final, La Seu DÚrgell, Spain

13-16 ICF Dragon Boat World Championships, Lake Lanier, Gainesville, USA

*25-30 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, Rio De Janiero, Brazil

OCTOBER

*6-18 Youth Olympic Games, Buenos Aires, Argentina

*Denotes Olympic discipline

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