After almost six months out of the water, isolation and restrictions because of the Covid-19 outbreak the Russian Rafting Federation organised the first 2020 competition from 20th to 25th August.

Altay Republic hosted the National Championship, brought together most regions of Russia and showed the strong desire of the athletes and the Federation to keep developing our river sport.

Despite the challenging worldwide situation, more than 50 teams took part to the competition where the highest level of safety and protection were provided by the RRF.

Catun river crowned Nikita Zhuravlev, Vladimir Kazanskiy, Vladimir Ananev and Ilya Lukyantsev as the 2020 National Champions of Russia in the Men category.

The Women winner team is composed by Malahova Vera, Kozhanova Ekaterina, Kozhanova Valentina and Chugunova Tamara.

“We are really proud to announce that RRF is successfully  pushing Covid-19 out of the river and country” declared the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Aleksey Shirokov, “Your turn Next, Rafting World!”

The Canoe-Kayak Federation of the Republic of Tajikistan has been officially recognised as Full Member by the World Rafting Federation (WRF) Executive Board, which convened in Rome for a board meeting on 15 June.

“According to the World Rafting Federation's programme to develop Rafting around the world and help new and interested countries in the sport developement, I am working to make it happen in Asia. I am glad that Tajikistan joined our international movement as a new member last week.
We have always been ready to cooperate with all the new and developing countries and after the Corona pandemic we are more motivated than ever to resume the organization of our worldwide projects, not only the competitions that we are waiting all together but also training camps for young athletes and courses for new guides and coaches” said WRF Executive Board and Responsible for the development of the Asian Council, Mr. Hadi Ghazi Asgar.

Over the last couple of weeks our WRF President Danilo Barmaz developed mild symptoms and tested positive for Coronavirus. His current health is gradually improving and he will spend the next weeks isolated at his place as the authorities recommend.

The World Rafting Federation community wishes him a speedy recovery.

“I warmly thank everyone who gave me support during these days” Mr Barmaz said.

“I want to speak to our athletes: please undertake to respect the provisions of the Health authorities and do not underestimate the situation and the safety regulations, for your own good and those around you. The sun will shine again and we will be back together paddling our rivers. For now we have to stay strong and stay safe".

"I also take this opportunity to wish a fast healing to the ICF President, Josè Perurena”.

After racing was put on hold because of the coronavirus outbreak, WRF Board and National Rafting Federations have been working to put together a plan to allow the season to begin safely.

The opening competitions of a revised calendar for the 2020/2021 season were discussed throughout this challenging time and WRF Board outlined the international season start.

The Continental Championships will kick off in Costa Rica: Alexander Segura Amador, President of the Federación Costarricense de Rafting, will host and organise the Pan American Rafting Championships 2020, previously scheduled in Argentina and delayed due to the COVID-19 situation.

The first week of February 2021 a III+ class river in the Manuel Antonio National Park, Quepos, on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast, will welcome Senior R4 teams representing the countries attending from the whole American Continent.

Article updated on 29/08/2020

The World Rafting Federation announces that the Executive Board has decided to extend the emergency measures until 31st August 2020.

WRF is working on potential solutions to save the events previously scheduled for summer 2020, positioning part of the calendar to autumn 2020 whenever possible, especially focusing on the South American beginning summer, or 2021 season.
The enforced lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemia suddenly changed everyone’s programmes.

Athletes were preparing the agonistic season especially in Europe, focusing on the first competitions of the international calendar: Croatia, previously scheduled in March was planned to be the opening race, directly followed by the Gran Prix in Bulgaria, and several National teams were at the end of their winter training, ready to start outdoor.

Meanwhile many river guides will experience winter for the first time after a few years spent travelling and working in other continents, chasing whitewater during an endless summer. 

“I hope every member of this worldwide rafting family is healthy, coping with quarantine with a productive and optimistic attitude and accepting the current situation as a challenge, bearing in mind that even in difficult periods there are projects to pursue, personal growth to focus on, relationships to maintain, and new dimensions to discover and appreciate” said WRF Secretery General, Matteo Benciolini.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus), recently declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) a "Pandemic", the quickly growing number of cases, the national actions to contain the virus and increasing restrictions on global travel, the World Rafting Federation, the National Federations (NFs) and the Organising Committees (OCs) have been carefully evaluating the impact of this situation on all stakeholders for the upcoming events.

The health and safety of the athletes and all other participants as well as the general public are the priorities of all parties involved in the organisation of the events and for this reason the World Rafting Federation have taken the following decisions:

1.      2020 WRF Euro Cup - Slunj

The WRF Executive Board, the Croatian Canoe Federation and the Kajak kanu klub "Rastocki Mlinari" (Organising Commitee)  have decided to delay the "2020 WRF Euro Cup - Slunj" scheduled for 20-22 March 2020. The event will be rescheduled. 

2.      2020 WRF Grand Prix - Bulgaria

The WRF Executive Board, the Bulgarian Rafting Federation (BRF) and the Organising Commitee have decided to cancel the "2020 WRF Grand Prix - Bulgaria" scheduled for 27-30 March 2020.

3.      International rafting activities (in Europe and Asia)

 The WRF Executive Board has decided to stop in Europe and Asia any further international rafting activity until 30 April.

The best known destinations for fluvial tourism and the starting point for the debate about river security in Albania are the scenic Osumi and Vjoses coasts.

On 28th December 2018 the Albanian Rafting Federation gave the first input to create a National programme for the official qualification of river guides on the whole Albanian territory, rich in natural beauty from the mountains to the Ionian and Adriatic Seas.

After almost two years of joint effort the Minister of Tourism and Environment Blendi Klosi and the Minister of the Economy and Finance Arben Ahmetaj finally agree on how to proceed with the Albanian Rafting Federation. The certification to work with tourists, leading them to discover the fluvial activities of rafting, kayak, canoe, hydro speed and canyoning, will be released by the Minister of Tourism and Environment after attending a 320 credits course held by the National Rafting Federation. After the training course, a theoretical knowledge examination and a practical test will regularly prove the validation of the guide’s skills and guarantee a standard safety to the river tourists ensured by the cooperation with organs of national security.

Beyond the important local achievement, it also represents a step forward from an international perspective, joining the aim of the WRF Training Programme to implement a worldwide system, sharing experiences and knowledges to improve the international mobility in the river world.

After having carefully monitored the current Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak a joint decision by the Organising Committee and the IMGA (International Masters Games Association) has been taken to postpone the 2020 Pan-American Masters Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It has been a very difficult decision, but it is paramount that the event can be held in an environment that is safe and enjoyable to all our participants from the region and worldwide.

Due to the complexity of moving an event of this size a new opening date has not yet been established. We will inform everyone of the new dates as soon as we know when the event will take place. In the meantime, we will close registrations and refund all athletes who have already paid and registered. Please note that no administration fees will be added but certain bank and transfer fees may apply.

The Organising Committee and the IMGA thank Masters Athletes, Co-organisers, Supporters, Sponsors, Supporting Organisations, Media Partners, and all our friends for your immense support towards these games so far, and express our sincere apologies towards the inconvenience caused under these unforeseen circumstances.