The 2011 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships kicks off this year with a record number of athletes competing in six different categories. Forty nations are present, two up from the Vaxholm Championships in 1996. All of marathon’s top paddlers have arrived in Singapore and have been joined by some well known Canoe Sprint paddlers who will be trying to challenge the marathoners. The competition starts from 21 October (Friday) to 23 October (Sunday); current temperatures are reported to be hot and humid, which promises to make racing challenging and interesting.

“It is hot, thirty-five Celsius and above and very humid. It is a little bumpy on the water but the conditions are fair,” said Susanne Gunnarsson, a five time marathon World Champion, who now coaches the Swedish team.  “The portage is very exciting. The athletes need to jump out of the water and run over a 150 meter long floating platform, carrying their boats right in front of the grand stand. This will be very challenging for the paddlers and really exciting to watch!”

The competition as it stands:

In the Women’s K1 category, the clear favourite is the great Renata Csay (HUN); she won last year’s World Championships and has been dominating the discipline for the past 10 years. Csay will be challenged by her teammate Judith Collar, Anna Alberti (ITA) and Frederike Leue (GER).

In the Men’s K1 category, there is the much anticipated battle between last year’s winner Ben Brown from Great Britain, and the Giant of Marathon Paddling, Manuel Busto (ESP). The South Africans Hank Mc Gregor, a former marathon medallist, and Shaun Rubenstin, have over the years posted the best results in both sprint-and marathon and will be at hand to challenge the two favourites - as will Ivan Alonso (ESP), a very experienced top marathon paddler.

There could be another victory on Sunday for Renate Csay in the Women’s K2 category; she will be paddling together with Ramona Farkasdi (HUN). The Danish duo of Birgit Pontoppidan and Sofie Jorgensen will, similar to last year, do their best to win a medal.

The last event at the World Championships is the Men’s K2 race, this takes place during the midday heat of Singapore and it will be a challenge with so many strong boats. Spain will be represented by Pablo Banos and Emilio Merchan, the latter a former world champion. Teammates Alvaro Fernades and Walter Busan carry the most pressure as they hold the best results having won the European Championships. The Spaniards will be challenged by K2’s new stars Marten Minde and Mattias Hamar (NOR), the duo have been posting good results and will be looking to take-over from the powerhouses. The very experienced Peter Jamobor and Tomas Jazek (CZE) will also be at the forefront of the competition, but there are many teams and anything could happen in the last race day in Singapore. 

The Men’s C1 and C2 races will almost certainly be an affair between Spain and Hungary, both nations are very strong, but the Canadians have done very well in previous World Cup events and World Championships. Athletes from Brazil and Czech Republic always give a good performance and they will be vying to finish amidst the top tier athletes, as will the growing classes of marathon nations.

The juniors and under 23 events are far more unpredictable, as many of the young paddlers would be participating in tough weather conditions, in what would be their first international marathon. These races are held on Friday (K1) and Saturday morning (K2).

Event Website: www.canoemarathon2011.org