Portugal will be home of ECA Ocean Racing European Championships in 2024

 

In exactly one month the 2024 ECA European Championships season will kick off with the opening ceremony of the 2024 ECA Ocean Racing European Championships in Portugal. Azores will host the championships of the Old Continent between 11th and 14th April. This will be the introduction to ocean racing year in Portugal, as this country will in October also organise the World Championships in Madeira. Before the season starts we talked with Vitor Felix, president of the Portuguese Canoe Federation.

This year you are hosting the two biggest ocean racing competitions - European and World Championships. This has to be a big challenge?

Vitor Felix: “For sure Portugal will be the capital of Ocean Racing in 2024! We are used to hosting major international competitions and we like a good challenge concerning our sport. Since 2009 we have organised several international events in every canoeing discipline, so we have a lot of experience and together with our local partners in Azores and Madeira, with no doubt we will organise the best European and World championships ever.”

Your federation is considered one the strongest and the most successful in the world of canoeing. Does this bring even more responsibility in organising top-level events?

Vitor Felix: “In my opinion Portuguese Canoeing nowadays has two brands, at national level we are a sport reference due to the international results of our athletes, and at an international level we are a reference in hosting top-level events. So these two things give us an enormous responsibility and people are always expecting more from us, so we always prepare the best conditions to make each event we host a big success.”

Your championships are always very well organised. What can we expect of the 2024 ECA Ocean Racing European Championships?

Vitor Felix: “Azores have very good conditions at the sea for Ocean Racing fans, our local partners have a lot of experience organising regional and national competitions, mainly at security level, very important in these competitions, and they are very eager to host and welcome people from other countries to know their island. For sure these are the main ingredients for a big event!”

Portugal organised the first ever ECA Ocean Racing European Championships in 2014. Now, 10 years later, the best European paddlers are returning to Portugal. How have things changed and improved since then?

Vitor Felix: “So, we have an enormous responsibility in European ocean racing events. Since then Ocean Racing has increased a lot, has more participants, discipline became part of the multisport events, such as Beach Games, therefore the European federations give more importance and attention to this discipline. This is a discipline that can attract easily the athletes and it is a big promotion for our sport.”

What could you say about the status of Ocean Racing in Portugal? Is it very popular, how many people are involved with this discipline?

Vitor Felix: “The ocean is in our blood and makes part of our history. We have 800 kilometres of Atlantic Coast plus the islands of Azores and Madeira, so we have very good conditions for Ocean Racing. Our national championships usually has 4 or 5 competitions, with about 250 participants. On 9th March, we had our first national championship in 2024, with 250 athletes in junior, senior and masters categories, and this year we introduced the kids level, with a smaller course near the coast, and we already have about 180 young athletes.”

You have many places in Portugal, this time you chose Azores to host the European Championships. How was the decision for this location born?

Vitor Felix: “That was an easy decision, like was the one for the Worlds in Madeira. Azores increased a lot in canoeing in recent years, with more athletes and more regional competitions, so we thought that it was fair to give them our highest trust to organise this European Championships. Every young athlete in Azores starts in sport at the ocean and it stays in his blood forever. In our opinion we will organise the best European Championships ever.”

Not only in an organisational sense, you probably expect a lot from this Championships in terms of great results as well? Your athletes will be among the main candidates for medals and top positions?

Vitor Felix: “In recent years, Bernardo Pereira from Madeira is frequently on the podium of junior and U23 events at international competitions, so we expect that at home he will make history in this discipline. But we also expect some good results in other categories; in the junior category we have some athletes that can be a surprise. It would be the cherry on the top of the cake, to have good results and the best organisation.”