About the Olympic sport - rowing slalom

Dear Users of the Internet Resource of the Nur-Sultan Olympic Training Center (hereinafter referred to as the Center), continuing to get acquainted with the sports with which the Center trains young athletes, we provide you with information about rowing slalom.

A sport discipline - rowing slalom is a kayak and canoe race on sections of a mountain river or rough water with natural and artificial obstacles, overcoming at a speed marked by a gate a distance: a section of a rapid river or an artificial track.

Rowing slalom is an exciting sport and one of the types of water sports in which you have to conquer the elements of a turbulent flow of water. Along with the ability to swim, row and kayak perfectly, to know and follow safety rules, this sport develops in athletes courage, endurance, the will to win and forms a beautiful body, better physical shape, strong muscles.

Races in rowing slalom are judged by time. The goal of the athlete is to swim the distance as quickly as possible, for errors, a penalty time is added. Swimmers in a stream of water, the speed of which is not less than 2 m / s, overcome the distance marked by the gate on sections of a rapid river or an artificial route. 

The routes are divided into 5 categories of difficulty, which depend on the length of the distance, the number of gates, the speed of the river, etc. The route with a total length of 200 m to 400 m is completely passable along its entire length. Natural and artificial water obstacles are used, and the track has at least one combination of gates passable from different sides. The number of gates is from 18 to 25, of which 6 with passage against the current.

Kayaking and canoeing are seasonal. A kayak is a narrow elongated boat, it comes with single-blade oars, it has a minimum of fixtures - seats (slides) and heel stops. Vessels are single, double and quadruple. The canoe in the hull has a different shape, the athlete does not sit in it, but stands on one knee right on the bottom, while using a special substrate. The canoe is driven exclusively by oars and can accommodate one, two or four athletes. Boats are divided into two classes with different parameters: boats L-1 and S-1 - 3.50 x 0.6 m., weight 8 kg., boats S-2 - 4.10 x 0.75 m., weight 13 kg. Steering is not allowed.

The history of the development of rowing slalom

Kayaks, light boats with high traffic, able to float on big waves and covered rapids, were adopted for slalom from the inhabitants of the far north, who were the first to create a boat completely covered and with a single hole for a rower.

In the 19th century, the founder of kayaking and water tourism, John MacGregor, traveled along the rivers of Europe in boats similar to the kayaks of the Eskimos. In 1866, the world's first rowing club opened in London. Similar clubs began to form in America, Canada, and Scandinavia. The first kayak regatta took place in 1867.

Rowing slalom was originally held on “smooth” water, but extreme sports enthusiasts quickly transferred it to rivers with a large number of rapids and fast currents.

In European countries, the 30s of the 20th century were a period of active development of rowing slalom, and in the USA and Canada it began to be cultivated as an independent sport. And September 11, 1932 was the day of its proclamation as an independent sport. In 1934, the first kayak competitions took place. Austria is the ancestor of rowing slalom in kayaks, France - in canoeing.

During the Second World War, the development of all sports, including this type, stopped. However, after the war, interest in the new species increased again and in 1947 the European Championship was held for the first time and 2 years later the first World Championship was held in Geneva, Switzerland. For several decades, the GDR, the FRG, Czechoslovakia, Austria were the leading countries in this sport.

In 1972, rowing slalom was included in the program of the Olympic Games, which contributed to a rapid surge in the world popularity of water slalom. At the Olympics, which took place  from August 24 to September 11, 1972 in Munich (Germany), a record number of participants gathered - seven thousand one hundred and forty-seven people and national teams from 121 countries. For the Games in Augsburg, 70 kilometers from Munich, where there was an old track known as the Icekanal, a new artificial slalom channel was built. The participants of this Olympiad were two athletes from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Rowing slalom became known in the USSR as well, its development was initiated through sections in kayaking and canoeing. The first All-Union competitions in rowing slalom were held in October 1970 in Georgia on the Rioni River, near the village of Tvishi. In 1971, the USSR national team debuted at the XII World Championships in Merano (Italy) on the Passer River. The USSR Cup began to be held in 1973, the championships of the USSR - since 1982.

The history of the development of rowing slalom in Kazakhstan

The development of rowing and canoeing in Kazakhstan began in 1955 in the city of Atyrau, where the first sports sections were opened. 

As part of the USSR, athletes of Kazakhstan repeatedly became winners of championships and sports competitions: in 1959, Z. Svetocheva became the Champion of the II Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in a single kayak, V. Obraztsov became the champion of Europe in 1967, the champion of the USSR in 1967, 1968 and 1971 in a kayak- singles, B. Ospanov and S. Bandurin - champions of the USSR in 1979 in a canoe-deuce. In 1978, O. Kapitsa won the title of champion of the USSR in a single kayak. Our compatriot A. Akunishnikov was awarded the gold medal of the 1986 World Championship in a kayak-four (10,000 m). A native of the city of Zhezkazgan, A. Apanovich, as part of the USSR national team in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, in the finals of the races of the four kayakers, took the honorable 4th place.

The largest number - 9 licensed trips to the Olympic Games in Atlanta, were awarded to domestic rowers at the Asian Championships in Japan in 1996.

In Kazakhstan, rowing slalom was officially recognized by the International Canoe Federation in December 2003. In 2010, for the development of rowing sports in Kazakhstan, the Federation "Kaiyk" was formed.

In 2015, at the World Championships in Milan, Italy, where 1,700 athletes from 101 countries participated, Kazakhstanis won two Olympic licenses, and won 7 tickets to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

At the 2015 Asian Championships in Indonesia among youth and adults in kayaking and canoeing, Kazakh athletes won 5 Olympic licenses and won 19 medals: 9 gold, 8 silver, 2 bronze.

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Kazakhstani athletes took 9th place and the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, 1st place in the team event. Participants of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. five rowers became, one of them was honorary - 7th place (at a distance of 200 m, single kayak).

In 2018, K. Erengaipov, A. Amanbaev, A. Kulikov won gold medals in the Asian Youth Championship, and A. Kulikov won a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games. For the first time in the history of Kazakhstani slalom in 2021, 2 licenses were won for the Olympic Games in Tokyo: A. Kulikov in the C1M class and E. Smirnova in the K1Zh class. Alexander Kulikov at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 took the final 12th place, Ekaterina Smirnova the final 25th place, which is a multiple participant in the Olympic Games: 2008, 2016, 2020 in the K1Zh class.

The results of the national team of the Republic of Kazakhstan in rowing slalom in kayaks and canoes for the years of independence

(top scores)

Olympic Games	World Championships	Asian games	Asian Championships	other international competitions
12th place at the Olympics 2008, Beijing (Lukicheva E.) 16th place at the Olympic Games 2012, London (Vergoyazov R.) 19th place at the Olympic Games 2016, Rio De Janeiro (Smirnova E.) 12th place at the Olympic Games 2020 (Kulikov A.) Tokyo 2021	World Cup 2011, Spain - 7th place (Polezhaeva S.)	AI 2010 (Guangzhou) - 5th place AI 2014 (Incheon) - 5th place (Kulikov A.) AI 2018 (Jakarta) - 1 bronze. (Kulikov A.)	CHA 2005 - 1 bronze. CHA 2008 - 1 bronze. CHA 2010 - 3 bronze. CHA 2011 - 1 bronze. CHA 2013 - 2 gold, 3 bronze. 2016 National Championship - 2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze. ChA 2017 - 1 silver, 1 bronze.	YUCHA (18), (23) 2017 - 6 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze. JUCHA (18), (23) 2018 - 4 gold. 3 silver, 3 bronze.

About the department of rowing slalom on kayaks and canoes of the Center

In the Olympic Training Center, the rowing slalom kayak and canoe department has been operating since 2017.

In 2021, the Olympic Training Center trains 10 athletes:

1. Tarantseva Ekaterina Sergeevna, born in 2006 KMS
2. Ananyeva Anastasia Alekseevna, born in 2004 KMS
3. Salikhova Kamila Ramilyevna, born in 2000 KMS
4. Kolyakin Viktor Aleksandrovich, born in 2006 1 rank
5. Khudyakov Alexander Alexandrovich born in 2003 KMS
6. Tashtamyshev Roman Alexandrovich born in 2003 KMS
7. Erengaipov Kuanysh Kenzhebekovich, born in 1998 MS MK
8. Amanbaev Adil Bakytzhanovich, born in 2000 MS
9. Tikhomirov Sergey Antonovich, born in 2000 KMS
10. Mambetov Imangali Baқytzhanuly born in 2004 MS

In 2021, 3 training camps of athletes for special physical training were held in the East Kazakhstan region, the city of Ridder on white water in the Ulba and Uba rivers, as well as strength exercises on smooth water in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk and the city of Ridder on the Gromotukha River .