We need your help.
The following note shows the number of paddlers attending races. In summary, it is not many. Please send us your suggestions at marathon@canoevic.org.au on how to increase the number of paddlers at marathon races.
The Victorian marathon year consists of 21 marathon races, comprising the summer races, Vic Champs, Nationals and Winter Series).
We have had 15 races since January. The following chart shows participation in these races.
The blue bars show the number of members in each club or school, the orange diamonds show the number of individual paddlers who have attended at least one race, and the yellow triangles show the average number of paddlers at each race.
It is hard to read the participation off the chart, given the scale. That is a reality of current participation levels.
The key statistics are as follows.
- ~1,500 members are in clubs that participate in Marathon events
- 712 paddlers are registered as competitive members (across all disciplines)
- 348 paddlers attended one or more races (125 of these were in school programs)
- On average each paddler attended 3 races over the 9 month period
- 40% of paddlers that raced did only one race in that period
- Only 5% of paddlers race every month
We recognize that not everyone who paddles wants to race. And those race don’t want to race all the time. However, the feedback from paddlers is consistent: they would like to see more participants at each race. This helps lift the standard of competition and helps us all become better paddlers, and gives the events more of a “buzz” for paddlers and spectators alike.
Notes to chart
- The chart shows total participation over 15 marathon races from January to September 2018 (Summer GP races, Vic Champs, Nationals and Winter Series). There are six more marathon races from October to December making up the total of 21 races for the year.
- Clubs/schools are sorted in order of decreasing average participation per race. “Other” includes other states (mainly NSW, ACT and QLD participation at the Frank Harrison race).
- Club membership is per the CV membership register as of 19th April 2018. Membership is only shown for clubs which participate in Marathon.
- Average participation over all races = 79.2 paddlers/race. Smallest race = 27, largest race = 137 paddlers.
- N.b. the Massive Murray Paddle, Goulburn river races, Cahuna Bridge to Bridge, Nathalia Broken Creek Classic and School Champs are in addition to the 21 races noted above.
John Young
On behalf of the Marathon Committee
