ACOG - Canoe/Kayak: Sprint - IBM

Spectator's Guide to Canoe/Kayak-Sprint

Though one of the few Olympic sports that pits man against nature, canoe/kayak is not the leisurely glide through Canada's Boundary Waters that the uninitiated imagine. Far from it, sprint canoe/kayak is about speed at its purest, athlete against athlete. Olympic-class sprinters can paddle up to 125 strokes per minute. A four-person sprint kayak can achieve enough speed to pull a water skier.

The first boat to cross the finish line wins the final race. Boats clearly out of the running in the first heat often slow down to conserve energy for their second chance, the repechage round.

Olympic contenders compete in heats and repechages progressing to semifinals and finals. (See "Determining who advances".) In sprint competition, 350 athletes from approximately 35 countries test their metal during the six days of competition.

Sprinters match their skills in all 12 of the following sprint canoe/kayak events: the men's single kayak (K1), women's single kayak (K1), men's double kayak (K2), women's double kayak (K2), men's kayak fours (K4), and men's single (C1) and double (C2) canoe. Olympic competition also determines the year's world champions.

Racers compete in one of nine, 9m lanes in either the 500m or 1000m events. Straying from a lane or coming closer than 5 meters to another boat (wake riding) results in disqualification. Umpires follow the competitors in motor boats to watch for infractions.

Each country qualifies a certain number of boats, not athletes, for canoe/kayak competition. About 350 elite-level athletes are in Atlanta to prove themselves on the sprint runs. This sport displays the grit, motivation and dedication of some of the U.S.'s true amateur athletes.

Sprint boats aim to shoot straight and fast. Each type of boat has size (length, width and weight) restrictions set by the International Canoe Federation (ICF). Officials are strict — a U.S. sprint boat was once disqualified for being 1/8" too narrow. In an act of sportsmanship exemplifying the Games, seven rival countries came forward offering their own boats to the high-and-dry Americans.

Know Your Boats

The easiest way to distinguish a canoe from a kayak is to look at the implement the paddler uses to propel the boat. A single-bladed paddle indicates a canoe, while a double-bladed paddle is the tip-off for a kayak. However, the differences go beyond merely the paddle. Canoeists utilize a kneeling stance in their boats. This stance is more pronounced in the sprint canoes, while it is more difficult to see in a slalom canoe. This is due to the sprayskirt, which encloses the cockpit and the lower half of the paddler to create a watertight seal that prevents water from filling the boat during competition. In both disciplines, kayakers sit in their boats with their legs extended before them toward the bow.

There are five different boats used for Olympic canoe/kayak events; one- and two-man canoes in both sprint and slalom and one-, two- and four-place kayaks (two- and four-place kayaks are unique to sprint). The specifications for these boats are set and enforced by the ICF, the inter-national governing body of Olympic paddling. Sprint boats are long and sleekly constructed for straight-line speed. A sprayskirt is optional for flatwater kayakers (one would be too cumbersome for flatwater canoeists). World-class flatwater paddlers are proficient swimmers with safety boats nearby, eliminating the need for personal flotation devices.

Athletes control kayaks with their feet (just the front person steers in a two- or four-person kayak). Their feet move a string, or T-bar, which is connected to the rudder by a cable running the length of the boat. A kayak paddle has rounded blades on both ends which are perpendicular so that the boater can paddle more easily on both sides.

A canoeist kneels on one or both knees and many opt to use a foot brace for additional stability. Instead of a rudder, the canoe is maneuvered by the rear athlete's paddle strokes. In a two-person canoe, the front paddler is used mainly for power. Canoe paddles are more angular than a kayak paddle. They have a blade with a flat top on one end and a T for better grip on the other.

Determining Who Advances

Competitors Heats Repechages Semifinals
10–13 2 heats
1 – 3 to final
rest to semis
1 semis
1 – 3 to final
rest out
14 – 18 2 heats
1 – 2 to final
rest to semis
2 semis
1 – 2 to final+
best 3rd
19 – 27 3 heats
1 – 3 to semis
rest to reps
2 reps
1 – 4 semis+
best 5th
2 semis
1 – 4 final+
best 5th
28 – 35 4 heats
1 – 2 to semis
rest to reps
3 reps
1 – 3 semis+
best 4th
2 semis
1 – 4 final +
best 5th
36 – 42 5 heats
1 – 3 to semis
rest to reps
3 reps
1 – 4 semis+
rest out
3 semis
1–3 final
rest out
43 – 54 6 heats
1 – 3 to semis
rest to reps
4 reps
1 – 2 semis+
best 3rd
3 semis
1 – 3 final
rest out
55 – 63 7 heats
1 – 2 to semis
3 – 7 to reps
rest out
4 reps
1 – 3 semis
rest out
3 semis
1 – 3 final
rest out

The above chart shows that, for example, if there are 19 – 27 competitors in an event, three heats will be run. The top three competitors from each of the three heats advance to the semifinals. The rest advance to the repechage rounds. Of those that compete in the repechages, the top four from each, plus the fifth-placed finisher with the best time out of the two reps, advance to the semifinals. There will then be two semifinals. The top four and best fifth in the semifinals advance to the final.

This is an official publication of The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Jennifer Knight.


Olympic Factoid
More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined.