Prado Nautical Club

The Prado Nautical Club is a cultural, recreational, and sporting association, founded on February 24, 1982, with its Statutes published in the Official Gazette No. 99, Series III of April 29, 1982, and subsequent amendment published in the Official Gazette No. 287, Series III of December 14, 2000. Since February 5, 2002, the Club has been an Institution of Public Utility. Its main activity is the practice of CANOEING, in its formative, recreational, and competitive aspects, currently having approximately 1750 active members. Its facilities are located on Avenida do Cávado, Lugar do Faial, Vila de Prado, on land whose surface rights were granted to the club by the Vila Verde Municipal Council, on a definitive basis. The village of Prado occupies a prominent place in Portuguese canoeing due to its excellent natural conditions for the sport and the work carried out by the Prado Nautical Club, heir to the Rowing and Canoeing Schools of the extinct Portuguese Youth (created in the mid-1960s) and the former Rowing and Canoeing section of the Prado Sports Group. The growing participation of young people in canoeing, thanks to the continuous training and promotion efforts of the Prado Nautical Club, positions the club as a regional and even national benchmark. The club's participation in numerous canoeing competitions throughout the country makes it the best means of promoting the village of Prado and the municipality nationwide. The Prado Nautical Club currently has the best sporting record in the municipality of Vila Verde and is among the best in the district of Braga. Its athletes frequently participate in World Championships, European Championships, Olympic Games and International Regattas. It is worth highlighting that athletes António Brito and Rui Fernandes won the silver medal at the World Track Championships in the junior K4 500m category, Silvestre Pereira won the silver medal at the World Marathon Cup in the senior Cl category, and Luísa Azevedo and Susana Pereira won the bronze medal at the European Marathon Championships in the senior/women's K2 category. Also noteworthy is Rui Fernandes' participation in the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympic Games, as well as Silvestre Pereira's participation in the Atlanta Olympic Games. It is also worth highlighting athlete Emanuel Silva, who won the gold medal as a junior at the World Track Cup in K1 in the 500m and 1000m and the bronze medal at the European Junior Championships in the 1000m. As a cadet, he won a gold medal at the Spanish Winter Championships and has participated in European and World Championships and the Athens and Beijing Olympic Games, achieving excellent results. In 2016, athlete Hélder Silva participated in the Rio 2016 Olympics in the C1 200m, achieving 13th place.

It is worth highlighting the activity that the club has been registering in sporting terms, but essentially in social terms, given the problems that currently plague young people (drugs, alcoholism, prostitution, unemployment, school failure). The Cooperation Protocols signed with the School Groups of Prado, Vila Verde, Moure and Ribeira do Neiva, Mosteiro and Cávado, and with the Vila Verde Secondary School, in order to promote and provide children with a first contact with the sport, offer canoeing practice to their students free of charge, in a number that is approximately around 350 students. Canoeing is an interdisciplinary area of ​​the Physical Education subject in schools, thus offering a wide range of activities to students. To meet its sporting and social objectives, the Clube Náutico de Prado has established a technical team to provide ongoing support to students as well as competitive athletes. The technical team consists of 3 members. In recent Olympic cycles, the Clube Náutico de Prado has provided canoeing opportunities for an average of 150 registered participants.