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Follow this link for: 2022 Victorian Slalom Events Calendar (V 2021 10 20)

Follow this link for: 2023 Victorian Slalom Events Calendar (V 2022 08 31)

For upcoming Paddle Victoria events, possibly including slalom, check out the Paddle Vic Calendar.  See also the following tab “Events”

What is Slalom

Kayaking is an exciting watersport which is great fun at all levels and takes us to some of the most beautiful and tranquil rivers and bush settings in Victoria. You can start at a local water course and end up representing Australia overseas including events like the Olympics.

Kayaking is a social sport with children of all school year levels practising together and looking after each other under close supervision from teachers and qualified instructors.

Canoe Slalom is an exciting whitewater paddling discipline that combines the best in paddling technique, skill, fitness and power. The sport consists of up to 25 designated upstream or downstream gates (vertical poles approximately on metre apart) suspended over a course of whitewater rapids along a length of 200 – 300 metres. The paddler must negotiate the gates in numerical order, the correct direction, in the shortest possible time and with the least number of penalties. Canoe Slalom can present challenges and deliver achievable outcomes at all levels from beginners to Elite. It is an Olympic sport and is well supported by the Victorian Institute of Sport.

The Slalom Committee organizes races during the year which are pitched at an entry level to the sport and graduate through to experienced and challenging whitewater as the year progresses.

There is an annual Yarra Series which run concurrently with a Country Series. These series culminate in Country Race 3 and the Victorian State Slalom Championships both of which are held on the Goulburn River, at Eildon in November/December.

Different Craft

What does K1, K2, C1 etc mean ?

K1 are one person kayaks.  C1 and C2 are one and two person canoes which look similar to kayaks but in which the person kneels and uses at single bladed paddle.

Slalom kayaking is an exciting high energy race over several minutes through gates (pairs of poles suspended over the water) in whitewater rapids Downriver.  But kayaking is not just about racing – activities also develop advanced water safety skills and teamwork.

Paddle Victoria Slalom Clubs

Paddle Victoria has many affiliated clubs, a number of which specialise in slalom paddling and have club coaches and boats available for their members to use when building their skills. For more information, contact the clubs directly. A list of all Canoe Clubs in Victoria can be found here.  Refer to the next tab “Resources” for links to the two main Victorian clubs involved in slalom racing, Melbourne Canoe Club (MCC) and Canoes Plus Racing Team (CPRT)

Membership of Club & Paddle Victoria

To paddle regularly in Slalom Canoeing events paddlers must be a fully registered member of a club that is affiliated with Paddle Australia, and therefore Paddle Victoria.  Membership is via our Membership portal GoMembership in which all members are issued a Membership number. Membership is not expensive and provides insurance coverage and news, information and additional benefits from both the club, Paddle Victoria and Paddle Australia.

Membership renewals are due to Paddle Victoria through your club in July of each year.

Just Starting? – The come ‘n’ try category is designed for new paddlers to the sport still deciding if they want to get involved.  If you are not a registered member you can become a Trialist member for a month (4 weeks from purchase).  Paddlers with a Trialist Membership are not able to to compete in the State and/or National Championships.

It is the responsibility of the individual paddler / competitor to ensure that he/she has up to date membership of a PV (Paddle Victoria) affiliated club. Membership details will be checked against the current PV membership list at each race. If the paddlers name does not appear on the PV register they must either be able to provide proof of membership to a PV affiliated club OR pay the additional levy to cover Insurance for the current race.

For any paddler to compete in the State and/or National Championships he/she must be a current member of a PV (or Interstate Association) affiliated club.

Documents:

Yarra Series Race Regulations/Proceedings

Slalom Race Official Role Descriptions

Key Slalom Canoe Clubs:

Canoes Plus Racing Team  https://cprt.canoe.org.au/

Melbourne Canoe Club   https://melbourne.canoe.org.au/

Useful links:

Paddle Australia  http://paddle.org.au/

Victorian Institute of Sport   http://www.vis.org.au

If you wish to contact the Slalom Committee, please email: vicslalomtechcommittee@gmail.com.

Chair – Chris Runting – chris.runting@gmail.com

Vice Chair – Lyne Strmecki

Treasurer – Lyne Strmecki / Paddle Victoria

Secretary – Sue Moorhen

Logistics – Chris Galea

Registrations – Laura Montalto

Athlete Development – Warwick Draper

Timing and Compiling – Russell Bassett