Watch the paracanoe stars competing in Račice

Paracanoe had its debut at the World Championships in 2009 and since then it has been part of the World and European championships. This discipline was presented at the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016 for the first time. Athletes in paracanoe events race over 200 metres. They use kayaks (K; propelled by a double-blade paddle) or outrigger canoes called Va'as with supportive floats (V; propelled by a single blade paddle). There are three classes for both men and women in both disciplines.

The most successful countries in paracanoe are the United Kingdom and Brazil, which gained together 35 world titles (United Kingdom 22, Brazil 13). There will be 134 athletes from 30 countries in total at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Račice. British Jeanette Chippington belongs to the most successful racers in the world. She is the Paralympic champion from Rio 2016 and she won ten world titles. Chippington is former swimmer who represented Great Britain on five consecutive Paralympic Games. Since 2011 she has fully focused on paracanoe. She dominated at the World Championships in 2015 in category KL1 which secured her nomination for the Paralympics in Rio where she won the gold medal.

Markus Swoboda, six-time world champion, will race in Račice as well. He made his international debut in 2010 and soon became one of the world’s best paracanoeists. His first achievement came at the European Championships in 2010 where he won the silver medal, few months later he gained his first world title in Poznan. He continued in his dominance till the year 2016 where he was beaten by Australian Curtis McGrath. Markus competed at the Paralympics in Rio 2016 and took silver medal. He holds five European and six world titles in total.