International Entries

2010 WORLD CUP QUOTAS>

From the 2009 season, changes in the way the International Canoe Federation operate have put a much greater emphasis on World Ranking as a primary tool. The first major indicator of world ranking being used as the ICF’s primary tool has been that from 2010 there is the opportunity for countries to send more than 3 boats per class to the World Cup races - the 2010 allocations of places being done on the top Nations from the 2009 world ranking lists. Great Britain secured its 3 boats comfortably from the 2009 season ‘majors’ but only secured one additional place in the WK1 category and this was mainly due to one of the athletes withdrawing from two World Cup races and the replacement athlete securing some good world ranking points thus Great Britain having 4 athletes ranked very highly in the World Ranking.

The British International entries policy up until 2010 has been a ‘scatter gun’ approach where it was left very open and inclusive and many paddlers were able to experience world ranking events and gain experience racing abroad. This approach however does not assist in gaining more places for GBR as the world ranking is not based on how many different paddlers are racing, but looks at ranking nations according to where their 4th ranked boat appears in the ranking list. This is why it is imperative that GB boats in places 4-6 at selection in particular are given excellent opportunities to access the quality and quantity of start lines in order to secure ranking points that will move GBR up the nation ranking and improve the chances of securing additional world cup athlete quotas.

In addition, there are often very limited opportunities to access quality site specific start lines ahead of scheduled major championships at Junior, U23 and senior championships. This is why the published selection policy will often ‘reserve’ specific races for specific teams in order to allow the team to best prepare for the forthcoming championship performance.

Essentially through the published policies GB Canoeing is looking to increase athlete quotas by a more targeted approach to securing world ranking points. This in turn should aid development of those just outside of the GB team and ensure that GB Canoeing is able to maximize any opportunities made available by ICF through their world ranking system. Importantly many International start lines will still be available for athletes wishing to gain experience but the system enables the world ranking races with quality strength and depth to be targeted by the ‘reserve boats’ from selection to maximize GB’s chances of long term success.

Andy Maddock