Canoe words · Beginner

The words you will hear in your first match, grouped the way you meet them.

B · Beginner · 26 words · Step 1 of 2

Boats and equipment

Kayak

A decked boat paddled with a double-bladed paddle, with the athlete sitting inside it. Sprint kayaks must be sit-in boats, not sit-on-top boats.

Canoe

A Canadian canoe, paddled with a single-bladed paddle with the athlete kneeling. In slalom the canoe is a decked boat. In sprint, a C1 or C2 may be entirely open, with an opening at least 280 cm long.

Paddle

The equipment used to propel and steer the boat, kayak paddles have two blades, canoe paddles have one.

Spray skirt

A flexible cover sealing the gap between a kayaker's body and the boat's opening, keeping water out.

Hull

The main body of the boat that sits in the water. Sprint boats must have a single hull and single keel line, with no concave hull sections, and hull lubricants and added substances that give an unfair advantage are not allowed.

Sprint (Flatwater) terms

Sprint racing

Races over 200 m, 500 m, 1,000 m and 5,000 m on flat water. Races up to 1,000 m are run in separate, parallel lanes, and races of more than 1,000 m can have turning points. The Olympic Games course has eight lanes and the world championship course nine.

K1

A kayak for one paddler. The ICF recognises K1, K2 and K4 kayaks, with one, two and four paddlers.

Also called: K2, K4
See also: Kayak

C1

A canoe for one paddler. The ICF recognises C1, C2 and C4 canoes in sprint, and C1 and C2 in slalom.

Also called: C2
See also: Canoe

Lane

The straight, marked water course assigned to each boat in a sprint race. A lane is at least 9 m wide and 2 m deep, and in races up to 1,000 m the whole boat must stay in the 5 m central area of its lane. A boat that leaves its lane is disqualified.

Photo finish

The camera record that settles close finishes. If it confirms a dead heat the boats share the place; if it can separate boats with the same time to the hundredth of a second, the results page says so.

Sprint rules

Heats and finals

At least three boats must be entered for a race. If there are more boats than lanes, heats are held, and the progression system sends boats on to quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final depending on the number of entries. A B final is held only with more than 18 boats, and a C final only with more than 36.

Start (sprint)

Athletes must be on the water in the starting area at least three minutes before the race and in line with their lane two minutes before. The starter's command is 'Ready, Set, Go'. At 'Set' the boat must not move forward, and athletes may paddle only on 'Go'.

False start (sprint)

Paddling forward at 'Set', or before 'Go'. The starter sounds a buzzer, the offending athlete or crew gets a warning, and the start is repeated. A second false start by the same boat disqualifies it from the race.

Slalom (Whitewater) terms

Slalom racing

A timed run down a whitewater course, negotiating gates in numerical order. The result is the run time plus penalty seconds. At the Olympic Games there are two heat runs, one semi-final run and one final run.

Gate

Two suspended poles, 1.4 m apart, that a boat must pass through in the correct direction. Downstream gates have green and white poles and upstream gates red and white. Touching a pole costs a time penalty; it is not forbidden.

Upstream gate

A gate with red and white poles, negotiated against the current. The gate number panel shows the correct direction of negotiation, with a diagonal red line on the side opposite it.

Penalty

Seconds added to the run time for the gate judges' decisions: 0 for a clean negotiation, 2 for a touch of one or both poles on a correct negotiation, 50 for a missed or incorrectly negotiated gate. The most one athlete can get on a single gate is 50.

Also called: touch
See also: Gate

Eddy

A calmer pocket of water, often behind a rock or obstacle, where the current temporarily reverses or slows, used strategically by paddlers to rest or turn.

Whitewater

Fast-moving, turbulent river water with rapids, used for slalom courses.

Slalom rules

Result calculation (slalom)

The best run time in seconds plus penalty seconds. Times are measured from the athlete's body breaking the start line to breaking the finish line, to at least a hundredth of a second.

Kayak cross

A slalom-style race in which four boats start together and race down the course, with gates, a roll and obstacles. A qualification phase ranks the athletes, then in the elimination phase the first and second in each race go through.

Technique terms

Stroke

One complete paddling motion used to propel the boat forward.

Draw stroke

A sideways paddling motion used to move the boat laterally.

Roll

Righting a capsized boat without leaving it. In slalom a roll is not a capsize, and team members may help each other roll without penalty. In kayak cross a complete 360-degree roll is required at the roll zone and the roll barrier.

Also called: eskimo roll
See also: Kayak, Penalty, Kayak cross, Capsize

Capsize

In slalom, an athlete (or one in a C2) has left the boat completely; a boat whose athlete's head is entirely under water is upside down, which is not the same. In sprint, a capsize eliminates the athlete or crew from the race (DNF).

Portage

Carrying a boat over land to bypass an obstacle or connect two water sections, more common in marathon/distance canoeing events.

I · Intermediate · 32 wordsNext: Intermediate words