Canoeing facts for kids
Whitewater canoe
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| Highest governing body | International Canoe Federation |
|---|---|
| Presence | |
| Olympic | 1936–present |
| World Games | Canoe polo: 2005–present |
Canoeing is a fun activity where you paddle a special boat called a canoe. You use a paddle that has one blade. People often go canoeing for fun or as a sport. Sometimes, they use canoes for longer trips, like canoe camping. Other times, it's just a way to travel on water.
Most canoeing today is done for recreation or as a sport. In some parts of Europe, the word "canoeing" can mean both canoeing and kayaking. There, a canoe is often called an open canoe.
You can enjoy canoeing in many ways. Some popular types are canoe camping and canoe racing. People also love to canoe on lakes, rivers, oceans, ponds, and streams.
The History of Canoeing as a Sport
Canoeing has been a way to travel for a very long time. But modern recreational canoeing, just for fun, started in the late 1800s.
In 1924, canoeing groups from countries like Austria, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden came together. They formed a group that later became the International Canoe Federation (ICF). This group helps organize canoeing around the world.
Canoeing became an official sport in the Olympic Games in the summer of 1936. The main type of racing back then was canoe sprint. This is where paddlers race very fast over short distances.
Today, there are many types of competitive canoeing. These include canoe polo, whitewater canoeing, and canoe marathons. More than 170 national canoeing groups are part of the ICF. This includes groups from America, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Canoeing for Fun and Sport
Most people who go canoeing today do it for fun or as a sport. As mentioned, in some parts of Europe, "canoeing" can also mean kayaking. A canoe is often called an open canoe there.
Fun ways to canoe include canoe camping and racing. You can also just enjoy paddling on lakes, rivers, oceans, ponds, and streams.
The Summer Olympics feature exciting canoeing competitions. One Olympic event is Canoe slalom. In this sport, paddlers guide their canoe or kayak through a course of hanging gates. They must do this on river rapids as fast as possible. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) calls this event Canoe/Kayak Slalom. The other Olympic canoeing event is canoe sprint.
A famous canoeist named Verlen Kruger paddled over 100,000 miles in his lifetime. This amazing feat is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.
See also
In Spanish: Piragüismo para niños
- List of sprint canoeists by country
- Outline of canoeing and kayaking
- Canoe paddle strokes
- Kayak
- Canadian (canoe)
