The ICF has now increased its webinars series total for 2020, to eight ©ICF

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) has announced it is expanding its online webinar series with two more presentations added to the schedule.

A session will now be held on anti-doping while the second will be on training athletes to paddle faster.

This comes after the ICF said the first three presentations in the series had been an "outstanding success", with the most recent additions bringing the number of webinars scheduled by the governing body in 2020 to eight.

These presentations have been arranged during the COVID-19 pandemic which has brought a halt to competition and training and allowed for administrative development to be prioritised.

The opening three webinars focused on athlete development and training differences between male and female athletes, and were watched live by hundreds of coaches and technical officials from around the world.

The webinars are available online to watch on the ICF website for those who could not attend initially.

"This year has presented many challenges for our canoeing community, but has also presented new opportunities," said Sebastian Cuattrin, ICF development manager.

Canoe sprint coach Alexandr Nikonorov will host a presentation later this month focusing on paddle speed ©Getty Images
Canoe sprint coach Alexandr Nikonorov will host a presentation later this month focusing on paddle speed ©Getty Images

"Whenever you start a new venture, there is a question mark over the willingness of your potential audience to embrace something new.

"What we have seen from our webinar series is that the canoeing community is really interested in what we have to offer.

"By presenting a diverse range of topics, and engaging top international experts, we are giving participants incredible access to world-class material."

On September 30, former British and Spanish canoe sprint coach Alexandr Nikonorov will present his webinar on paddle coaching.

Having recently worked with the Chinese and Japanese canoe teams, Nikonorov has plenty of experience and is the author of several books on kayak training.

A week later, Brazilian anti-doping education and prevention manager, Christian Trajano, will host a webinar on keeping canoeing a clean sport, on October 7.