The 2017 ECA Canoe Marathon European Championships will be held in Ponte de Lima, after report of the ECA Canoe Marathon Delegate.

During December 2016, Jorn Cronberg, chair of the ICF Canoe Marathon Committee and ECA Canoe Marathon Delegate visited Crestuma and did not approve the conditions to host the 2017 European Championships, as he understood the venue should have been improved from the 2009 World Championships. In opposition it was presented a new  layout, without the expected space for teams and all the event logistics.

The Portuguese Canoe Federation, in an attempt to keep the event in Portugal presented new venues that would be able to host this Event. Venues that have been working with the Federation for future canoe marathon bids, among them Ponte de Lima, home of the most famous Portuguese Canoeist of the decade, Fernando Pimenta, and of Clube Náutico de Ponte de Lima, one of the biggest national references in the Portuguese Sport with more than 300 registered paddlers from all ages and disciplines.

This was the venue chosen by the international entities to host the 2017  ECA Canoe Marathon European Championship. It’s a brand new place, looking similar to Prado in Vila Verde, where we hosted the 2013 European Championships and home of the 2018 World Championships.

The Portuguese Canoe Federation will now work directly with Clube Náutico de Ponte de Lima and the City hall of the village to gather all conditions to host one more Canoe Mrathon sucessfully event.

More news and details to come in the next weeks.