The Swedish Canoe Federation (SKF) has announced its new coaching set-up for the 2025 season in Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe.
The quartet consists of a national team manager in Petteri Pitkänen along with three coaches.
Pitkänen started his new role at the SKF in November 2024 having previously held the position as national team coach and training manager for the Finnish Canoeing and Rowing Federation since 2011.
“In Petteri, we get a strong leader, something that we put at the top of the list of important qualities before the recruitment process,” said Dag Johansson, Secretary General at the SKF.
“He also has great expertise in a number of other relevant areas that will be very valuable.”
Pitkänen will head up the team that features coaches Andre Bastos Coelho, Asa Eklund and Kent Klitgaard.
The SKF said Eklund and Klitgaard will have a shared role where one part will consist of a national team coach position and the other will be focused on long-term elite athlete and elite coach development.
This is an area Eklund knows well having been the SKF’s high performance manager in recent years.
Sweden’s new leadership team has had a number of meetings before and after the turn of the year to start preparing for 2025.
The SKF hopes that the coaches will help Sweden to secure a quota in the kayak four at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
“At the end of last year, everything was finalised with a new organisation for the senior national team in sprint and para,” a statement from the SKF read.
“A quartet that complements each other well is now up and running towards the 2025 season.
“The federation's input values in the process of forming a new national team organisation have, among other things, been based on a competence profile that will be able to lead the effort towards the goal of paddling K4 at the Olympics again, starting in Los Angeles in 2028.”
The Danish Canoe and Kayak Federation has revealed Casper Renneberg as its new national coach.
Renneberg was part of the senior national team’s coaching staff at both the European Canoe Association Canoe Sprint European Championships and the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships in 2024.
The DKF say the 38-year-old’s scientific approach, combined with his practical experience as a coach, athlete and human being, as well as his ability to develop elite athletes, makes him “an ideal addition” to Denmark’s coaching team.
"With the appointment of Casper Renneberg, we strengthen the foundation for future Danish successes in DKF,” said DKF Board member Jarl Venneberg Jakobsen.
“His skills and experience are a strong match for our ambitions, and we look forward to seeing his contributions translated into results on the water and medals on the podium.”
DKF Sports Director Torben Koue added: "We are pleased to welcome Casper to our team.
“His experience and professional insight will help lift Danish canoe and kayak to new heights, and we look forward to the environment and the results we can create together.”
Pictures by the Swedish Canoe Federation, Canoe Photography and Danish Canoe and Kayak Federation
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