In celebration of the upcoming Pan Am Games and the 2016 Olympic Games, the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough have opened a special exhibition on the sport of sprint paddling (canoe/kayak). I was thrilled to play a small part in this exhibit with one of the photos I have taken being used for the title banner.
Here is the original photo I took at the Mazda Canoe Kayak Knockout event in September 2011 (you can read my blog post and see other photos here):
This is the title banner that they created:
Needless to say that I was thrilled to attend the event and see my (edited) photo on display.
The exhibit is incredible. What a collection of canoes and kayaks they have on display dating back to the 1800's. The exhibit focuses on the history of the sport, the boats as well as the athletes.
"While the roots of canoe racing are indeed ancient, there has been a singular momentum over the last 150 years that has lead to the development of a sport known today as Canoe Sprint."
"Since its beginnings 150 years ago, it has been the participants and athletes who have had the strongest voice in shaping the sport of canoeing".They explained the significance of Canada with regards to the sport of sprint paddling.
"By the late 19th century a highlight event held at North American canoeing assemblies was the "War Canoe" race."
"When the American Canoe Association (ACA) did not demonstrate adequate attention in the cultivation of these events, a Canadian faction split off and formed the Canadian Canoe Association. This organization would later become known as CanoeKayak Canada".
"The rest of the world would come to call these [war canoes] "Canadian canoes".
They also have various boats that have been used by Olympians over the past few decades, most notably as perched on the right of these photos, Mark Oldershaw's canoe and Adam van Koeverden's kayak.
Although this canoe and kayak are the most recognizable to canoe sprint fans today, it was fascinating to see older boats from previous Olympics like the tandem canoe used by John Beedell and Joseph Derochie at the 1960 Rome Olympics or the Delta Model C1 that Larry Cain won two medals racing at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (gold in 500m C1 and silver in 1000 C1).
There are biographies throughout the exhibit for many prominent Canadian paddlers.
Para Canoe is also represented.
It's not only canoes and kayaks that are on display at the Canadian Canoe Museum. There is an Adam van Koeverden memorabilia exhibit including three of his Olympic medals.
"Displayed here are a number of items on loan from Adam's family."
"As this carefully preserved collection of memorabilia suggests, an athlete's family shares equally in all of an athlete's joys and accomplishments."
You can even try your hand at kayaking on the kayak simulator or see if you could keep your balance on the tipping kayak challenge.
This is only a small sample of the items on display at the exhibit. I don't want to give everything away. It was really worth the drive to Peterborough to see this amazing exhibit. I look forward to returning. There are so many vessels on display and so much to read, that I couldn't absorb it all on opening night especially with the crowd that was present that evening. The exhibit will run until the Rio Olympics in 2016. I highly recommend a visit to the Canadian Canoe Museum before then.
The museum is located at 910 Monaghan Road in Peterborough.
Hours of operation:
Monday to Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday: Noon to 5 p.m.
The Museum is open daily except for December 25 and 26, January 1 and 2. On December 24 the Museum closes at 2:00pm.
Click here to visit their website.
Follow them on:
Twitter @CndnCanoeMuseum.
Facebook /CndnCanoeMuseum.
If you were directed to this post directly, don't miss the new page on OHCanada Sports dedicated to the sport of sprint paddling and the Canadian Canoe Museum's exhibition. Click here.
If you were directed to this post directly, don't miss the new page on OHCanada Sports dedicated to the sport of sprint paddling and the Canadian Canoe Museum's exhibition. Click here.
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