Paddling community
Between 2011 and 2017 there were 2146 paddlers* who participated in at least one K1 race at a national sprint regatta at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham. 1464 (68.2%) of these were men or boys and 685 (31.8%) were women. It is important to note that these figures represent the number of paddlers actually racing at events rather than the number of entries because the data are from regatta results rather than entries.
This table shows the number of paddlers (men / boys and women / girls) who participated in at least one K1 race, at at least one national regatta at Nottingham between 2011 and 2017.
There was a marked but seemingly temporary increase in participation in 2013 (there were only 4 regattas in 2013) and 2014 immediately following the London Olympics with a decline in participation since then.
It should be noted that the racing standards were introduced around 2012 by way of aiming to reduce participation in the national regattas as the numbers had become unmanageable. It was hoped that this would also promote the development of local / regional regattas for those not yet at the standard for national regattas.
The proportion of female paddlers has increased since 2011 from 30% of the paddling population to 34% which means that if there have been strategies to increase female participation then these look like they are having an impact.
The chart shows the average age (red dots) of men and women competiting in at least one K1 race at at least one national regatta between 2011 and 2017. It also shows the minimum (light blue) and maximum (dark blue) ages of paddlers in each year.
The age distribution of paddlers remained generally stable between 2011 and 2017.
There was no difference in the age of boys and girls competiting in lightning class over time.
The average age of female paddlers was lower than for males paddlers.
The average age of paddlers within racing divisions did not change substantially over time.
This chart shows the total number of paddlers participating at each regatta from 2011 to 2017. Note - this will be different from the number of entires for the regattas because only race results were available for analysis.
Generally, attendance was lowest at the April, May and June regattas and highest at the Interclub (MacGregor) championships.