Three thousand years ago, it was used as a means of transport, the well-known canoe has its origins in Polynesia, becoming a region well known for grouping islands in the Pacific, including Hawaii, currently a territory of the United States.
Nowadays it has become a sport, the modality attracts attention on the shores of beaches and lakes due to the particularity of the canoes, which include a connection with a float, in addition to enabling the socialization of practitioners and offering beautiful landscapes.
Below, you will learn about the rules of the sport and its benefits.
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Brazil
In the past, it served as an instrument of locomotion for the Polynesian peoples and with its arrival in Brazil in 2000, thanks to the initiative of the canoeing athlete Fábio Paiva, who was responsible for manufacturing the first national Hawaiian canoe and for spreading the sport in different cities of the country.
The first canoe arrived imported from the United States to be assembled in the port of Santos. It served as a sample for the construction of new ones by Paiva. As a result, the city of Santos is one of the main cradles of the sport in the country, where the first Brazilian competition took place in 2001.
Currently, all Brazilian regions have Hawaiian canoe clubs, with great emphasis on the coastal cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
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Hawaiian Canoe Sport Rules
The Hawaiian canoe is very different compared to canoeing or slalom, Olympic sports and better known to the public. Starting with the number of people in the canoe: the most used style is with six paddlers.
The shape of the canoe is quite peculiar, for the reason that there is a piece known as a float, connected by means of rods to the hull, mainly where the practitioners go. The float ends up providing lateral stability that does not affect the speed of the canoe.
Made of fiberglass and has a standard measurement of 14m long and 50cm wide. It always comprises three essential parts: the hull, the float and the arms that support it between the hulls. In competitions, there are three modalities: sprint, marathon and long journeys.
In 2019, the sprint distance was created, which is the speed in Brazil, the international calendar is divided: one year is sprint and the other is marathon. In the marathon, normally the circuit is triangular, where you go around two buoys and come back. In the sprint, there are lanes, just like the sprint canoeing events.
The lanes can be 250m or 500m. In the 250m lanes, the 1,000m and 1,500m races take place, where you have to go around the buoys four or six times. And there are events that are 500m long, in which you have to go at once in the 500m lane.
Something very common in the Hawaiian canoe is the possibility of changing the side of the paddles by the practitioners. There may be 20 strokes on one side and then 20 on the other, changing sides, however the group chooses this change.
Benefits of the Hawaiian Canoe
The most demanded muscle groups are:
- Back;
- Core;
- Shoulder;
- Arms;
- Glutes;
- Posterior thigh.
Assisting in improving cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strengthening, localized muscle resistance, improved posture, improved self-esteem and socialization.
