While the best Freestyle paddlers are heading to the United States of America where this year's World Championships will take place in Columbus, the status of the 2024 ECA Canoe Freestyle European Championships is still uncertain.
The organisation of the 2024 ECA Canoe Freestyle European Championships was awarded to Spain, more precisely to Salt - Girona, but the Spanish organisers have officially withdrawn from the organisation.
There were several reasons for the board of directors of the Club Piragüisme Salt-Ter, which was the planned organiser of the European Championships to take the difficult decision to withdraw from the organisation. One of the main reasons were the works in Parc d'Aigües Braves de la Pilastra, carried out by the Salt City Council, with an adjustable modular system, and the lack of water did not allow any tests to be carried out or to organise events in the near future. Several planned events at this site this summer had to be cancelled.
Additionally, the organisation of the ECA Canoe Freestyle European Championships would require a guarantee of water level for at least 10 hours daily in a course of two weeks in August 2024, a requirement the Catalan Water Agency could not guarantee in the current situation of the reservoirs of the Ter system.
With the uncertain following months, the organisers have decided to withdraw from the organisation of the European Championships to enable enough time to find a new organiser, but they still highlighted the interest in organising top-level international competitions in 2025, 2026 or beyond.
The ECA is now looking for a new organiser to take over the organisation of the 2024 ECA Canoe Freestyle European Championships.
12.10.2023
