Our Team

For the past years, Portugal has re-emerged in Canoe Sprint discipline. After our presence in Athens 2004, with Emanuel Silva in K1 1000 meters, we started to grow an incredible level. In 2008 we had 4 athletes in Beijing, in London 2012 we archived the first Olympic medal for Portuguese Canoeing and in Rio 2016 we had the best Portuguese sport results with 4th, 5th and 6th place in our kayak Men.

 

Starting in 2005, the work with the national sprint teams has become a very serious issue for our Federation. A regular number of training camps for seniors, juniors and Cadets has increased a lot.

 

Ryszard Hoppe, started working for us as head coach in our National High performance center in Montemor-o-Velho since 2005 and created a complete new team from scratch.

 

More than 40 medals won in 15 years, including the first in the Olympic games for our Sport , the Portuguese National Canoe Sprint teams is today top of the class in worldwide canoeing.

 

Today we are seen as a powerful nation in Canoeing among others, with several medals in most of the International events promoted by the European Canoe Association and International Canoe Federation.

 

The biggest result was of course the Silver medal in London 2012 by our K2 1000 meters and also the 2013 the silver in K4 1000 meters at the World Championships and the silver in K1 1000 meters World Championships in 2017,  but other very important results were archived. Some of the biggest was in 2011 and 2014 by our K4 Senior Men. They were European Champions in the Olympic distance of 1000 meters, with a world record time and later in 2014 Silver Medalists in Russia, during the World Championships.

 

Playing home in 2018 our team will prepare and fight for the first Gold in a Olympic distance and who knows beat the record archived in 2017 of two medals in a Senior world Championships event.

 

 

Top Boats

Men

K1 1000m

Fernando Pimenta is known in canoe sprint community as one of the best athletes in the world. He is the current European Champion and world silver medallist in K1 1000 and K1 5000 meters world Champion and he collects already 64 medals in his sport life since 2005, 21 in European Championships and 3 in World Championships. Fernando is also silver medalist in Olympics in K2 1000 meters in London 2012 along with Emanuel Silva, other of our starts in the Portuguese Canoeing.

 

K2 1000 meters 

This is our only Olympic medalist boat, back in 2012 in London with Emanuel Silva and Fernando Pimenta.
Since 2013 this boat is now completed with João Ribeiro and not Fernando Pimenta. Emanuel and João have started competing together and they archived the best result ever in Rio 2016, with a 4th place, very close to the bronze medal.
Emanuel Silva played in Rio his 4th Olympic games, after is participation in Athens with only 18 years old and a 7th place in the k1 1000m Final.
João Ribeiro has also 3 medals in World Championships and 10 in Europeans, most of them in team boats K2 and K4.

 

K4 1000 and 500 meters 

Our K4 1000 meters is still one of the best Boat ever in Portuguese Canoeing at European and World Championships, with Gold in 2011 European Champs and Silver in 2014 World Champs. Fernando Pimenta, João Ribeiro, David Fernandes and Emanuel Silva make this one of the best boats in the world in 1000 meters.
With the entrance of a new distance for this boat in the program for tokyo 2020, a new boat has been created with Fernando Pimenta being out and David Varela as new member. 

 

Women 

K1 500 and K1 200m

Teresa Portela is the most know female name in Canoe Sprint from Portugal. She is among the fastest athletes in the world in 200 meters, already with many A finals and some medals in her career. In 500 meters she is also the best Portuguese women ever.
In Rio2016 we had also a new paddler competing in the 200 meters. She is Francisca Laia, the University world Champion in K1 200 meters in 2016 and one name to follow in the next 4 years.