The 1938 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Vaxholm, Sweden, outside Stockholm, between 6–7 August 1938.^[1] This event was held under the auspices of the Internationale Repräsentantenschaft Kanusport (IRK), founded in 1924 and the forerunner of the International Canoe Federation.

The men's competition consisted of three Canadian (single paddle, open boat) and seven kayak events. Two events were held for the women, both in kayak.

This was the first championships in canoe sprint and the only one held prior to World War II which would break out the following year. It is also the only time the K-1 10000 m folding and K-2 10000 m folding events would take place in the world championships.

Medal summary

Men's

Canoe

Event	Gold	Time	Silver	Time	Bronze	Time
C-1 1000 m	Otto Neumüller (GER)	6:45.8[2]	Hans Wiedemann (GER)	6:51.4[2]	Bohumil Sládek (TCH)	7:11.7[2]
C-2 1000 m	Germany Rupert Weinstabl Karl Proisl	5:47.3[2]	Czechoslovakia Bohuslav Karlík Jan Brzák-Felix	5:52.3[2]	Czechoslovakia Václav Mottl Zdeněk Škrland	5:54.4[2]
C-2 10000 m	Czechoslovakia Bohuslav Karlík Jan Brzák-Felix	52:38.7[2]	Germany Rupert Weinstabl Karl Proisl	53:06.5[2]	Germany Christian Holzenberg Heinz Jürgens	54:12.4[2]

Kayak

Event	Gold	Time	Silver	Time	Bronze	Time
K-1 1000 m	Karl Widmark (SWE)	5:03.2[2]	Helmut Cämmerer (GER)	5:05.9[2]	Gregor Hradetzky (GER)	5:06.4[2]
K-1 10000 m	Karl Widmark (SWE)	46:42.8[2]	Czesław Sobieraj (POL)	47:35.6[2]	Egon Nilsson (SWE)	48:10.7[2]
K-1 10000 m folding	Arne Bogren (SWE)	51.48.8[2]	Kamill Balatoni (HUN)	51:49.7[2]	Günter Nowatzki (GER)	51:59.3[2]
K-2 1000 m	Germany Helmut Triebe Hans Eberle	4:46.6[2]	Sweden Kurt Boo Hans Berglund	4:45.5[2]	Denmark Poul Larsen Vagn Jørgensen	4:46.7[2]
K-2 10000 m	Sweden Gunnar Johansson Berndt Berndtsson	43:29.9[2]	Germany Helmut Triebe Hans Eberle	44:06.6[2]	Germany Adolf Kainz Karl Maurer	44:21.1[2]
K-2 10000 m folding	Sweden Carl-Gustav Hellstrandt Erik Helsvik	47:11.5[2]	Sweden Sven Johansson Erik Bladström	47:37.7[2]	Germany Kurt Kreh Johann Fuchs	48:10.7[2]
K-4 1000 m	Germany Ernst Kube Heini Brüggemann Ernst Strathmann Heine Strathmann	4:08.2[2]	Germany Hans Rein Josef Reidel Albert Schorn Karl Aulenbach	4:08.8[2]	Sweden Roland Karlsson Göte Carlsson Gunnar Johansson Berndt Berndtsson	4:10.5[2]

Women's

Kayak

Event	Gold	Time	Silver	Time	Bronze	Time
K-1 600 m	Maggie Kalka (FIN)	3:26.0[2]	Maj-Britt Bergqvist (SWE)	3:30.3[2]	Bodil Thirstedt (DEN)	3:32.2[2]
K-2 600 m	Czechoslovakia Marta Pavlisová Marie Zvolánková	3:05.2[2]	Germany Josefa Köster Elisabeth Kropp	3:05.5[2]	Denmark Ruth Lange Bodil Thirstedt	3:06.9

Medals table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sweden (SWE)	5	3	2	10
2	Germany (GER)	4	6	5	15
3	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	2	1	2	5
4	Finland (FIN)	1	0	0	1
5	Hungary (HUN)	0	1	0	1
	Poland (POL)	0	1	0	1
7	Denmark (DEN)	0	0	3	3
Totals (7 entries)		12	12	12	36