The 980 m venue in Çekerek district in the Yozgat province, Türkiye, is the second WRF Centre of Excellence. From 15th to 20th July, after months of careful planning and construction, the venue had a successful inauguration during a World Rafting competition: the International Gran Prix of Türkiye. 171 athletes competed in the 3 rafting disciplines: most of the athletes were from Türkiye, where the federation is constantly improving as well as the participation of athletes; on the other hand, among the 6 categories competing, the flags of Armenia, Georgia, Italy and Kazakshtan definitely stood out.

 Kazakshtan Senior delegation (men category) and the young Junion athletes from Italy (men, women and mix categories)

WRF President Danilo Barmaz declared “I am very happy about the progress that is going on: the venue is a positive step forward for the rafting development in Türkiye, and internationally, and at the same time a new starting point. The water level can increase thanks to the constant release that the lake guarantees and it will become a great whitewater venue, perfect for practice and competitions.” The President of the Türkiye Rafting Federation Mr Fikret Yardımcı welcomed Vice President of Türkiye Mr. Fuat Oktay and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişci who, after the speech at the opening ceremony, have been in the venue and watched the competition of the young Junior athletes.

Mr Fikret Yardımcı, Sports Minister Dr Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu and Mr Danilo Barmaz

Minister of Youth and Sports Dr. Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu took part in the event during the following days and with the Vice President thanked and congratulated everyone who took part in the venue construction: the public has been in the foreground and warmly welcomed.

Furthermore the village for the hosts is ready and immediately close to the water course: at the Centre of Excellence the doors are open and the waves guaranteed. 

Next week Aosta Valley will welcome 135 athletes for the Euro Cup in Villeneuve: on 7th, 8th and 9th July they will compete in the III level rapids of Dora Baltea.

28 teams competing is 7 categories will land in Italy: despite the lack of water in Valtellina, where the competition was supposed to be, Dora Baltea river has a good water level for the race, thanks to the flow that comes straight from the glacier of Mont Blanc, just 20kms upstream.

On 7th Leverogne section will officially welcome the rafters in its canyon at the start of the Downriver.

8th will be the Slalom Day: 2 manches in the Loc. Chavonne, in front of Aventure center.

Final results will be decided on 9th with the RX knock out.

On Monday 11th July there will be a free Safety Workshop. The meeting will be held by Mr David Allemanni who invites the athletes who competed in the Euro Cup to participate.

See you in the river!

Due to the unusual low water level of Adda river in Valtellina (Sondrio, Italy) the Euro Cup in Italy has been moved to Aosta Valley (Villeneuve, Aosta, Italy). Participation fee and the dates of the competition will not change: Dora Baltea river (III level) will welcome the athletes from 6th to 9th July 2022.

The World Rafting Federation has concluded a free technical workshop for the Delegations of Morocco and Iran in the city of Villeneuve, Italy from 10-12 July. The workshop is part of the WRF Developing Programme, which aims to develop the skills and quality of professional sports athletes and coaches worldwide.

It was led by professional international rafting coaches and instructors and focused on preparations for competitions, improving athletes’ training regimes and improving their technical abilities. The seminar also focused on safety in water sports thanks to the collaboration of a legend of rafting, David Alemanni.

Regarding the benefits and structure of the workshop, Mr El Mamoun, President of Fédération Royale Marocaine de Canoë Kayak and Responsible of the constitution of the new governing body for rafting sport in Morocco said:

“With the support of the WRF, Italian Rafting Federation and Rafting Aventure, we have provided useful training for more than 10 athletes by some of the leading international professionals in their fields.

Through the workshop, we are ensuring that our coaches and athletes have access to the latest best practices and techniques in the sport. We are working hard to be present at the Asian Championships in September, to organise the first African Championships in the coming springs and to arrive at the Senior Worlds with strong teams”. 

Mr Ghazi Asgar, WRF Executive Board Member and Head of Delegation of the Iranian Iran Canoeing, Rowing & Sailing Federation at the last Euro Cup in Italy, said:

“During this seminar we discussed how rafting techniques should be, how training will be made systematic. For us, the workshop was very useful. This gives our athletes the chance to work with the latest best practices and techniques so they can improve their performances at competitions and their skills. Next goal is to organise a seminar in Asia to support all the WRF Members which are approaching rafting for the first time”.

Due to local political issues we are sorry to inform that the 2022 World Rafting Championship, supposed to be held in Zubin Potok, is officially cancelled. 

The dates of all the other international races are confirmed. Check out the official calendar of the upcoming events:

First race day of the Euro Cup in Villeneuve was opened by the RX selection on 7th afternoon: Dora Baltea river welcomed 128 athletes and 27 teams with its III grade rapids, that selected the matches of the knock-out phase that is taking place today. Later in the day, yesterday, the the first points were scored with the 6kms of Downriver, starting from the amazing Inferno canyon in the Leverogne section.

Men category - Italy

The fastest team to stop the clock and was Rafting Team Verona, who got the first 80 points winning the Senior Men category with 22’17.52; 30 more seconds for the silver CC Pescantina-AddaViva-RaftingAventure (22’50.87- 72 points). Third step of the podium and 64 points for AddaViva-M&N who finished with 23’25.63.

Women category - Iran

Italy leads also in the women category: 24’24.57 for the team AddaViva-RKCC-RaftingAventure who got the first place. Iran got the silver with 27’44.42, straight ahead of Turkey team with 28’33.78.

A challenging downriver for the 6 MIX teams that saw 4 teams from Italy getting the best times, followed by France and Morocco. First place for Rafting Team Verona with 22’47.90 only 10 seconds ahead of the teammates RaftingTeamVerona-M&N-DRD4 with 22’57.11. Bronze medal for the local team of guides IntiRafting-RaftingAventure with 23’17.45.

Mix category - France

ParaRafting category was taken by M&N-AddaViva_RaftinTeamVerona (22’38.35) followed by M&N-SesiaRafting-Pescantina-AddaViva (23’15.81).

A great time for the Winner of the Junior Men: RaftingAventure with young U19 local athletes stopped the clock at 22’58.13, sixth best time overall. Second place, with 23’44.48, for M&N. 

A gap of only 20 seconds between the winner of the Junior women DRD4 24’56.52 and the second RaftingTeamVerona 25’14.17.

Last category is Junior mix with the golden AddaViva-DRD4-M&N 23’43.59 and M&N-DRD4 25’05.63.

ParaRafting category - Italy

Narrow passages and a tricky water level awarded these first points: everything will be decided today with the RX and with the 2 closing matches of Slalom on Saturday that will take place in the same section in Villeneuve. 

WRF recently had the honor to interview Professor Stephan Wassong. He is a German sport scientist and university lecturer.

Euro Rafting Cup 2022 in Zubin Potok was supposed to be held from 29th to 1st May.

The race has to be rescheduled for later date due to technical problems on the dam that releases the water of Ibar river for the competition. The organizers will find a suitable date in WRF calendar once the malfunction is solved. We are very sorry for the unforseen delay of the competition.

The dates for the World Rafting Championship U19 & U23 are confirmed.