International Canoe Federation

The TV crew was very much the same as the year before and rumour has it, they even requested to be at the 2010 Canoe Polo finals. For the 2010 boradcast, there were some important improvements, for example much better replays.

One big change for the competition was the venue. In the 2009 tournament, Canoe Polo was played in an outdoor swimming pool, in the 2010 edition it was played in a canal in the centre of Malmö (Sweden's third largest town). The pitch was surrounded by 2 bridges where spectators could take in the action.

The absence of any Canoe Polo clubs in the southern part of Sweden meant there was an opportunity to attract many new fans and the Canoe Polo spectacle certainly received a lot of attention. There were more than 500 spectators watching the finals.

The women’s final was not a close match and Isbrytarna from Luleå won with ease, 7-1 against Uppsala. The men’s final, on the other hand, was a gripping game, at halftime the score between Isbrytarna and Köping was a tight 3-3. It was a great game with some great Canoe Polo action to keep the crowds on the edge of their seats. In the end, Isbrytarna also took the men’s title.

Check out the footage of the women's and men's finals.

At the evening ceremony at the “Lilla Torget”, sportsmen and women received awards for their effort and achievement. Canoe Polo’s Mats Lindmark received the prize since he is the first Canoe Polo player to ever reach enough points to become a “Big Canoeist”. Athletes are awarded points for reaching a certain position in international tournaments and in Swedish Championships. Mats has played in the winning Canoe Polo team since it started in 2003 and has a number of gold and silver medals in the Senior categories in Canoe Freestyle, Canoe Slalom and Wildwater Canoeing.