2025 ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

[Glenn MacGrady]

I'll post videos of this event as I find them (or any of you can).

High kneel single blading is a classic canoe technique, and watching the form of these world class athletes can be instructive as well as entertaining.

We'll start with videos on the men's C1 200 meter sprint event.

 

[Alan Gage]

I gotta work on my J stroke.

Alan

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

In the ICF sprint canoe competitions, there is a B Final as well as an A Final when there are more than 18 canoes in the final round. HERE are the 2025 ICF Sprint Competition Rules. And here are the B and A Finals in the men's C1 200 meter sprint.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Other canoe events in this competition, as far as I can figure, are:

- men's C1 500 meter and 1000 meter
- men's C2 500 meter
- women's C1 200 meter, 500 meter, and 5000 meter
- women's C2 200 meter and 500 meter

I'll post more of these videos in event order when I have time later.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I gotta work on my J stroke.

Actually, your J stroke looks very automatic and effective to me.

How would I know that?

I was looking on your YouTube channel for the self-rescue video you've posted here a few times, and noticed you had several other videos. So, I watched one of you and Sadie paddling your local river. I figured you were probably a hard core and non-stop switcher. But no! You were casually and unconsciously J stroking on both sides of the canoe very effectively. I was impressed.

What you and I and just about all of us have to work on is high kneeling in, or even just staying upright in, a 14.2" max beam canoe.

Why? Seriously?

Because it's my experience that becoming an effective paddler in a variety of different paddle crafts, and learning and using a variety of different stroke techniques, makes one a better and more confident paddler for the kind of canoeing one prefers and does most often, whatever that is. It's also my experience that racers have developed the highest level of efficiency in hull design, paddle design and stroke technique in all the areas of flat water, whitewater and ocean paddling. Therefore, some practice with racing gear and racing techniques will especially help one become a better and more confident recreational paddler.

 

[Gamma1214]

Hmm... interesting but not much room for the tent & food barrel in one of those. I did notice that none of them are using a bent shaft... No animal tails either.

Honestly, I enjoy watching the sprinters but it looks too much like work to me.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Honestly, I enjoy watching the sprinters but it looks too much like work to me.

Work? Those guys only paddle for 40 seconds. Such wimps!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

This post will feature the women's C1 Class A finals in the 200 meter, 500 meter and 5000 meter races.

Here's the 200 meter final, which includes two Canadians in the field, Katie Vincent (the 2024 Olympic champion at this distance, 3rd lane from bottom) and Sophia Jensen:

Here's the 500 meter final, which culminates in a last second duel between Canada (Katie Vincent) and the emergent world canoe power of China.

Here's the 5000 meter final, which is rather long and tedious to watch in its entirety, but includes two Americans, Emma Albrecht and Audrey Harper, and some dock turnaround "portages":

 

[Alan Gage]

Because it's my experience that becoming an effective paddler in a variety of different paddle crafts, and learning and using a variety of different stroke techniques, makes one a better and more confident paddler for the kind of canoeing one prefers and does most often, whatever that is. It's also my experience that racers have developed the highest level of efficiency in hull design, paddle design and stroke technique in all the areas of flat water, whitewater and ocean paddling. Therefore, some practice with racing gear and racing techniques will especially help one become a better and more confident recreational paddler.

I couldn't agree more. My local paddle is a fairly lazy river with no rapids and lots of shallows. The current runs about 2mph when bank full. I learned how to read moving water and use eddies by training on this river when I used to race. There is nothing like a tippy 18.5' solo canoe with no rocker and plumb stems to teach you about crossing eddy lines. And constantly trying to beat my 3 and 6 mile upstream times had me using every eddy I could find and taught me where to expect the deep channel to be and where there would be shallow mud bars.

All this, combined with learning a decent sit and switch paddling technique, made "regular" paddling a walk in the park.

So, I watched one of you and Sadie paddling your local river. I figured you were probably a hard core and non-stop switcher. But no! You were casually and unconsciously J stroking on both sides of the canoe very effectively. I was impressed.

Thankyou. At that pace I can casually and mindlessly paddle on a single side. Things quickly break down when I start to apply real power however and then I resort to sit and switch. I can sit and switch at a pretty decent pace without thinking about it so my mind is free to do other things. Trying to set a quick pace while single sided paddling requires attention from my brain and distracts me from other things. When I was tripping I would switch back and forth during the day depending on the conditions, where I was (pretty shoreline or middle of a big lake) and how I was feeling. It's nice to have multiple arrows in the quiver.

Alan