Hefei, October 18, Xinhua Sports Telegraph (Reporter soldiers Zhou Chang) warm sunshine, broad waters, dynamic music, the elderly, children, students... What a harmonious picture. The 2014 China National Leisure Canoeing Competition (Hefei Station) was held in Zipengshan Scenic Spot, Hefei, Anhui Province on the 18th with the theme of "rowing into nature, rowing into sunshine, rowing out health".

The competition consists of 4 sub stations and one station finals. On October 18, the Hefei and Ningbo races will be held on the same day, and on October 25, the Beijing and Hangzhou races will also be staged on the same day. The winners of the races will also have a chance to compete at a higher level - the finals in Fuzhou in January 2015.

There are two men's and women's kayak events in HeFei Railway Station, both of which are 200 meters. A total of 164 participants participated in the competition, the participants are ordinary citizens of the competition area, amateurs in water sports, aged between 18 and 60 years old, require physical health and swimming self-help ability; canoeing professional team athletes or have participated in professional training canoeing players may not participate in the competition.

This is the first national leisure canoeing contest held, and the participants are ordinary people, so in the course of the race inevitably appear shaking, capsizing, landing, crossing and other issues. However, organizers are fully prepared to require all participants to wear life jackets first; secondly, all participants are required to buy insurance for the meeting; thirdly, lifeboats are always on standby in case of emergencies.

"There may be some organizational problems because it's an amateur event," said Ma Gan, the president of the event. "But after one or two competitions, these amateur contestants will gain experience and we are confident about the future competition."

Han Jianguo, deputy director of the aquatic sports management center of the State Sports Administration, said the competition will help promote the development of aquatic sports, make aquatic sports more air-conditioned and promote the further development of national fitness. He said that the Chinese Canoeing Association will further explore the connotation of such competitions and make more explorations in attracting investment. At the same time, it will learn from the development of marathons and other sports to better carry out water sports.

Feng Chao, director of Anhui Sports Bureau, said that since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the state has paid more and more attention to the development of national fitness. The competition is also a measure to enrich the content of national fitness. In the future, Anhui will combine this kind of leisure canoeing competition to explore more sports industry development.

The Huizhou Friends Leisure Kayak Club became the biggest winner. Both male and female champions were won by the team. They were Zhang Jiali and Sun Shuqin.