Canadian style
Canadian Style , also Classic Solo Canoeing or Omering denote a classic paddling style for Canadians , which allows a single paddler to move a tandem Canoe very efficiently and in a controlled manner. The paddler kneels in the middle of the boat, but offset to the side of his paddle. As a result, the Canadian is so strongly edged that the coaming is pushed down almost to the surface of the water. This lifts the stems out of the water at the bow and stern, and the Canadian becomes very agile and easy to control. American Freestyle Canoeing developed from Canadian style with the emergence of the first real solo Canadians in the 1970s .
History of origin
A large part of the development of the Canadian Style is attributed to the Canadian guide Omer Stringer, which is why this type of paddling in North America is still known today as Omering . According to the story, Omer Stringer is said to have accompanied guests to hunting and fishing areas in Algonquin Park as a guide at a young age . After the guests and their luggage had arrived in the destination area, the young guides had to return to the starting point alone with the big Canadians. Since an unloaded Canadian is very difficult to steer alone, especially in windy conditions, stones were loaded into the bow as a counterweight. As a result, the Canadian runs very straight ahead, but is less maneuverable and the additional ballast has to be moved with it. By observing the natives, Omer Stringer is said to have come up with the idea to kneel in the middle of the boat without using ballast and thus make paddling easier. This way of paddling was soon adopted by other guides. The boat movements in the Canadian style are very precise and graceful and are reminiscent of a dance. The guides were soon using choreographies to entertain their guests with demonstrations in the evenings.
Canadian style today
In the meantime, the Canadian style has developed into an independent discipline of Canadian paddling. In canoe dance, boats form different figures and create a common choreography.
Important basic ideas in today's Canadian style are:
- Efficiency: as much energy as possible is converted into boat movement
- The invisible paddler: The focus should be on the boat movement and not on the movements of the paddler.
Competitions and events
In the United States, several competitions and demonstrations in Canadian style paddling are held every year, mostly as part of American freestyle events.
Major events in the US include:
- Adirondack FreeStyle Symposium
- Florida FreeStyle Symposium
- Midwest Freestyle Canoe Symposium
In addition to Canadian Style, American Freestyle is paddled there.
The most important meeting in Europe is Kringelfieber, which has been taking place annually at Edersee in Germany since 2006 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Freestyle Canoeing - Contemporary Paddling Technique, 1994 Lou Glaros and Charlie Wilson, ISBN 0-89732-122-7
- ↑ Omer Stringer Story at Carrying Place
- ↑ Article about Canadian Style on freestylecanoeing.org - Süddeutsche Freestyle und Canadian Style Seite
- ↑ Canoe Dance Website by Doug Gifford ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.freestylecanoeing.com
- ↑ Ring fever
