Plans for the mixed relay were discussed at a meeting of the ICF Canoe Marathon committee
The mixed relay, which will include senior and junior rowers, will be presented for the first time at this year's International Canoe Federation Canoe Marathon World Cup in Brandenburg, Germany. The ICF Canoe Marathon Committee discussed the introduction of the innovative race as a demonstration event when they gathered for a meeting on January 19th and 20th in Budapest, Hungary. The four-round K-1 relay will be attended by teams including one senior man, one junior, one senior woman and one junior. According to the plans under consideration, each rower will go around and cross before passing the ball to his teammate. Teams will be able to choose rowers in any order, which means that juniors from some countries will be able to compete with adults from other countries during the race. The relay is planned to be tested in Brandenburg, where the ICF Canoe Marathon World Cup will be held on June 1 and 2, taking into account that in the future this race may be presented at the World Championships. "It is important that the relay should be tested at World Cup races, and testing at the World Championships is not our preference," said Ruud Heiselaar, chairman of the ICF Canoeing committee. "In any case, we hope that boats from C can also participate in the relay, but the number of rowers from C and countries is small, which does not allow organizing relay races with them at the moment. "We will try the relay at the World Championships in Brandenburg in June. "I want to test this over the next two years, and then in 2026 we want to do it at the World Cup. "This year we will start with adult K1 men, K1 juniors, K1 senior women and K1 juniors, that is, four boats. "We are thinking about how to do this safely, since changing boats at the crossing can be very dangerous. "It will be one lap, one drag, and then a shift. "This is the first test, and maybe next time we will do it differently. "If you never test, you'll never know." "The idea is to communicate with juniors and adults, as it is useful for a team atmosphere." The two-day meeting was organized by the Hungarian Canoe Federation The ICF Canoe Marathon Committee also discussed the possibility of reducing the length of long-distance races from 3.6 km to 3 km and possibly even shorter at the World Championships in 2025. "In my opinion, we need to make the race more interesting for the audience so that there is less time between each crossing," said Mr. Heiselaar. Other topics discussed at the meeting included the selection of international technical officials for world championships and cups, the future strategy of the canoe marathon, qualification rules for the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China, as well as the results of the 2023 ICF surveys. The Canoe Marathon World Masters Championship and team leaders in Vejen, Denmark, as well as plans for the paracanoe marathon. "For the Paralympic competitions, which have been held for two years as demonstration races at the World Championships, the rules of both the marathon and the Paralympic races are now being adjusted so that in 2025 they will become "real world championships," Mr. Heiselaar added. "This is what we marathon runners strive for, so we are giving Paralympians who like to row long distances a chance to take part in marathon competitions and win a medal at the World Championships."
