Sprinting!

We had several Epic boats and paddles in the competitions, some finalists and a bronze medal by Josefa Idem of Italy in the K-1 W 500 meters. This was a good chance for me to get feedback from the athletes so we can continue to improve our line of ICF sprint boats and paddles.

I recently wrote a new tip on how to best prepare the surface of your boat for maximum speed.

During the competition, the ICF announced that the men’s 500 meter events would be eliminated from the 2012 Olympic program in London. They will be replaced by K-1, K-2 and C-1 200 meter events for men, and a K-1 200 meter event for women.

This could dramatically change the makeup of Olympic Canoe/Kayak competitors. The genetics and training are relatively similar for 500 and 1000 meter events, both considered middle distances. You often see many of the same names placing high in both distances, such as Adam Van Koeverden, Tim Babrants or Ken Wallace in the men’s K-1.

However, a 200 meter event is considered a sprint and will require distinctly different training compared to a 1000 meter event. Thus most men’s paddlers will need to choose one distance or the other if they want to be successful at the Olympic level. If the proposed schedule holds, I’ll be very surprised to see men winning medals in both distances in London.

On the women’s side, there will still be a possibility of doubling up the distances, since the women’s 500 meter distances will remain and the K-1 200 meter event will be added. There is not that much difference between 200 and 500 meters. Ronald Rauhe of Germany successfully won both K-1 men’s 200 and 500m events this year at the World Championships.

Compared to running, you often see the same strong competitors in 800 and 1500 meter events (comparable to 500 and 1000 meter paddling events) and sometimes those who excel at both 400 and 800 meters (similar to 200 and 500 paddling events), but rarely see the same person doing well in both 400 and 1500 meter events.

The inclusion of 200 meter events brings new chances for sprint specialists and will be exciting to watch. On the downside, there will likely be fewer competitors per event in London. The International Olympic Committee is under pressure to contain the size of the games. For the past few games, they’ve limited the number of competitors allowed in each sport. By creating more “specialists”, this may mean fewer events per competitor, resulting in fewer boats per event racing in the Olympic Games. We’ll see how this plays out over the upcoming months and whether the 200 meter events are here to stay in Olympic Canoe-Kayak competition.

A special thanks to Jeff Houser, Maritime division coach who hosted me at his house during the event. We raced against each other in the 80’s. We were both so busy during the competition (getting up early and returning late) that we hardly saw each other, even though we were staying in the same house!