Singapore IVF Va‘a World Sprints Championships 2026

The Singapore IVF Va'a World Sprints Championships 2026 will be held from 17 to 31 August at Marina Bay, Singapore. Staged under the International Va'a Federation (IVF), the world governing body for Va'a (Outrigger canoe), the championships mark a historic milestone as Singapore becomes one of the first Southeast Asian nations to host the sport's premier event. 30 nations and delegations — from across the Pacific, Asia, the Americas and Europe — will compete in sprint races over 500m and 1000m, in single (V1) and six-person (V6) canoes, across men's, women's and age-group categories from junior to masters.

Va'a is among the oldest of human pursuits: outrigger canoes have travelled the Pacific for more than 4,000 years, carrying the Austronesian peoples who settled its most remote islands. The modern sport took shape in Tahiti and Hawaii — where lagoon races featured in Tahiti's traditional Heiva festival and clubs founded around 1900 still thrive today — before spreading across Oceania to the Americas, Asia and, finally, Europe. The IVF World Sprint Championships have been contested since 1984.

Set against the Marina Bay skyline and broadcast live to a global audience via the IVF's official channels, the 2026 championships pair elite competition with a vibrant celebration of Pacific Islander culture, including an Opening Ceremony (19 August) and a Culture Night (21 August).