FREESTYLE

Canoe freestyle is a whitewater discipline and competitions take place on stationary river features. These can be breaking or partially breaking standing waves, holes and stoppers typically formed at the bottom of small drops or weirs where the water flows back on itself, or eddy lines on the boundary of slow moving water at the river edge and faster water. In International Canoe Federation (ICF) events, athletes have a set time to perform as many different moves as possible, scoring additional points for style. Finals are judged on three 45-second runs.

Canoe freestyle is a constantly evolving discipline, with new tricks being developed to complement and improve on existing moves. These moves fall into three categories, entry moves, basic moves and bonuses, and are similar to those performed in freestyle snowboarding, surfing and skating. Spins, flips and turns are accompanied with names including roundhouse, donkey flip and the mcnasty.

Canoe freestyle is contested by four types of boat, kayak (K), canoe decked (C), open canoe (OC) and squirt. In kayak, competitors are seated with their legs out in front using a double-bladed paddle, in contrast to the single-bladed paddle used in a kneeling position in canoe decked. Open canoes also use the single-bladed paddle in a kneeling position, but are slightly larger boats with no spray-deck to enclose the cockpit. Squirt boats have no restrictions but a greater emphasis is placed on smooth control and graceful moves. Points are awarded for each different rotation during a 60-second choreographed routine, and bonus points can be gained for how deep and how long the boat can be kept under water during a mystery move.

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