Co-signers, alumni, friends,

At one point I promised an update on events on the horizon. Voila.

You may or may not have heard that the ICF wants to add C-1W for the 2009 World Championships, with the strong possibility of adding it to the Olympics in 2012 (London Olympics). It seems that the International Olympic Committee has mandated gender equity in all sports, and this is part of the ICF response.

Apparently the IOC wishes gender equity to be achieved without adding to the total number of athletes. When I heard this I thought this meant the certain demise of C-2 Men, but apparently the picture is more complex than I'd thought. Whitewater slalom has only a few events of the total Canoe-Kayak program; most are sprint events (4 whitewater, 12 sprint). The contrast in number of athletes is even greater (think of the K-4's in flatwater). I understand that the whitewater events are some of the most expensive, per medal, of all sports. Yet recent host countries are not opting to drop it, I'm guessing because the courses are a kind of showcase of engineering talent and vision. A possible solution is to add events to the whitewater program, taking them from sprint. It is, it seems, entirely possible that C-2W could also be added, thus achieving gender balance by adding rather than subtracting. Another possibility that has been talked of at the ICF level is adding C-2 Mixed! Whether that would replace C-2 Men, or be in addition to both C-2 Men and C-2 Women, I have no idea.

Another idea that has been mentioned is allowing canoe-kayak athletes to race in both whitewater and sprint, so that the same number of athletes can participate in a larger number of events; then, perhaps, no sprint events would need to be dropped.

All of this is highly speculative; the most certain part is that C-1 W will be a World Championship event in 2009.

Can we get a few hundred 8 to 12 year-old girls interested in paddling C-1's and C-2's? It could be a lot of fun for them. (Of course, it would also be nice to get a few hundred 8 to 12 year-old boys paddling C-1's and C-2's. Not to mention a few kayaks!)

Interesting times. I'm hoping that the alumni association can help take advantage of every paddling and racing opportunity.

Best to all, Jamie