The second race of these World Championships is over. Today, in Ivrea, the athletes performed in the Slalom race discipline on the Dora Baltea River. 25 teams tested the water that comes from the Mont Blanc.

Yesterday, after the opening ceremony of the World Championships, the teams and the coaches were given a free hour to study the river before going back to the camp in Villeneuve (AO).

Besides memorizing the course of the river very carefully, this morning the athletes had the chance to train before the Slalom race. All the athletes said they had fun and felt a lot of adrenaline thanks to the amazing strength of the river and its rapids.

The gate number nine was probably the hardest one of the course. It was the most technical part that challenged all the athletes. In fact, some rafts got stucked and they were kept in the hole because of the centrifugal force, and were forced to come out of the water.

The teams go back to the camp in Villeneuve in order to rest and get ready for the last day of races.

07.18.2018, Ivrea - The most important event for the world of rafting is everyday closer: the World Rafting Championships for the categories Junior and U23, which will be held in Italy from 21 to 24 July 2018.

More than 35 teams, for a total of 15 participating countries, will compete on the rapids of the Dora Baltea River firstly in Villeneuve(Aosta) and then in the Canoe Stadium of Ivrea.

The WRF, after reaching a collaboration agreement with the International Canoe Federation (I.C.F), became an official ICF Associate Member and a landmark for rafting worldwide.

The international delegations will arrive in Italy on Friday 20 July. For the occasion, the Rafting Aventure Park in Villeneuve will turn into a village that will host the athletes throughout this important event. On Saturday, it will be possible to follow the official training in the river from 9 am to 12 pm and from 3 pm to 6 pm. On Sunday, athletes will finally confront each other in 3 different specialities: Downriver in Villeneuve (AO), RX and Slalom in Ivrea (TO).

At the end of the kermesse, the award ceremony will be held in the suggestive and unique Piazza d’Armi at Forte di Bord. It will be possible to follow the event live on the ICF official channels and on all the WRF social networks. Good luck to all the organizers and to the young athletes.

On 24th June the World Rafting Federation (WRF) and the Chilean Rafting Federation have signed an important agreement for the development of WRF Rafting Guide training program. The WRF, in fact, has developed and manages a rafting guide training program in collaboration with National Federations; it’s a

system where the WRF Training Program does not replace the National Training Program but acts at National Federation’s request by training national instructors in order to make them autonomous, thus achieving common training standards.

According this agreement signed in Kosovo, during the WRF World Cup, Chilean Rafting Federation is being engaged by the WRF to act as "Program Manager and Coordinator" for implementing and managing the WRF Chilean Guide Training Program.

Chilean Rafting Federation, as WRF Member, is entitled to certificate the WRF Chilean National Rafting Guide.

The Chilean Rafting Federation will develop and manage the WRF National GTP according the principles defined in WRF Technical Rules.

As soon as the WRF Special Commission shall verify that the WRF Chilean Training Guide Program reaches the standards defined by the WRF Training Guide Program, Chilean Rafting Federation will be engaged by the WRF to act as its "WRF International Program Manager and Coordinator" for implementing and managing the WRF program with in the nation of Chile.

Bearing in mind that the Council of the European Union’s Recommendations on promoting health-enhancing physical activity across sectors show that the sport sector is an employment-intensive growing industry and can contribute to addressing youth unemployment, rafting represents a tool for facilitating young people's access to the labour market and implement the dual career goal for the all the paddle sport athletes. Rafting also offers other employment opportunities such as manager of rafting companies or naturalist guides.

Another important goal, which is implemented through the development of an international training guide program, is the international mobility for the technicians/athletes; in fact, this element is encouraged by the rafting’s seasonality due the weather events according to the period of the year. For this reason, rafting guides can work and promote paddle sport in different continent in the same year.

"The WRF training guide program is an essential element for the development of rafting worldwide and the only way to reduce the risk that is connected to that promotional activity and Chile will play a key role in that" Danilo Barmaz, WRF President, said.

This morning competition was a bit hard because of the river condition. For this reason and the strength of the water, some athletes got to the end of the course exhausted. But Italians were stronger.

Check out the results on the results page //

After this first event, the opening ceremony of this World Championship was celebrated in Ivrea, where the RX and the Slalom competitions are going to take place in the next days.

Danilo Barmaz, the president of the World Rafting Federation, during his speech encouraged all the athletes to perform well and to have fun. Danilo Barmaz: “This is an historical day for Rafting”.

The Fédération Française de Canoë-Kayak (FFCK), one of the most important Kayak Federation in the world, has become a Member of the World Rafting Federation. The application shall be ratified by the Executive Board during the next U23 & Junior World Championships in Aosta/Ivrea, Italy.

"The France's membership is a great news for all the WRF movement and provides a great boost to the continued growth of our sport in Europe. All of us know well the importance of the FFCK in the paddle sport community" said Danilo Barmaz, WRF President, "Rafting represents an incredible tool for the development of the active basis of all paddle-sports, from slalom to canoe-polo."

"In France rafting as a team sport is used by schools and companies: the management of the group dynamics and the team balance, whether it aims at achieving sport or social goals, is the way to co-opt into water experience an important number of people from the educational and labour sector: the FFCK with its structures will play a key role in the development of rafting as tool of inclusion and overcoming differences" said Andrea Gatti, WRF Coordinator of the Educational Projects Commission.

On the 30th June Oleksandr Bakanychev, President of Ukrainian Rafting Federation and of WRF Para Rafting Commission, had an appointment with the President of the Olympic Committee of Ukraine Mr. Sergey Bubka in Kiev, where the Para Rafting World Championships will be held in 2019. "The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and Ukraine Sport Ministry support Canoe Sprint, Dragon Boat and Rafting development in Ukraine" Mr. Sergey Bubka said.

Two deputy ministers of Ukraine Sport Minister and the Head of Peak company were present at that meeting. "The working group of the WRF Para Rafting Commission is growing and soon the first Para Rafting Sport Rules will be published. The Pre World Champs of this year will be a good test event (here the link of the bulletin (/component/edocman/para-rafting-pre-world-championship-2018-ukraine?Itemid=0))" Bakanychev said.

The first day of official trainings, prior of definitive races, came to an end. The athletes enjoyed the day without rain, which went better as the hours were passing by.

Paraphrasing what the athletes said about the training, the level of the water has risen a little bit because of the rain of yesterday night, but they trained a lot and they are ready to face anything.

Today, are the first races of this World Championship, starting with Downriver in Villeneuve (Aosta) where two groups of athletes, A and B, are going to compete. They are also going to the open ceremony of World Championship on a pair with the ICF awards ceremony.

On July 21, 2018 the Rafting World Championships in the Junior and U23 categories.

The Junior&U23 R4 World Championships will take place in Chavonne (Aosta) and Ivrea, a Piemontese town famous for its traditional orange feast and known also by itsriver Dora Baltea, which crosses along the city and which will be the watercourse where the world event will happen. The event will run from July 21 to 24: the official competition will start on Sunday with the Downriver (in the Chavvone-Sarre section) in Valle d’Aosta and then from Monday moves to Ivrea for the Slalom and the RX.

This event runs straight after the ICF Canoe Slalom U23 and Junior World Championships: Ivrea will be remembered as host town for this World Event and also for being the host place five days before the Rafting races start off, of the U23 and Junior Slalom Canoe competition.

Italy is well prepared to make the participants feel at home. All the organization’s efforts are focused on the 12 participating countries with their 35 teams in all, to make them and all the people attending the competition, take with them the best of memories of the event, of the town and its host team, as it will be on of the first big events.

The award ceremony will be held in the famous “Forte di Bard”, a fortified complex built in the 19th century by the House of Savoy on a rocky prominence above Bard.

The championship will be widely broadcasted by WRF and Planet Canoe, the official platform of the ICF. This will be an opportunity to show the world how this sport works, and certainly to engage the audience with the beauty of unforgettable landscapes.

You can get further information in ‘Bulletin 1 and Bulletin 2’.

Carolina Navarro Casares for World Rafting Federation

SPANISH VERSION

Este 21 de julio de 2018 dará comienzo el Campeonato del Mundo de Rafting, categorías U23 y Junior.

La competición tendrá lugar en Chavona (Aosta) and Ivrea, ciudad piamontesa famosa por su tradicional evento de la naranja y también atractiva por el rio Dora Baltea, que atraviesa la ciudad y precisamente río donde se celebrará el evento.

Para los locales que organizan el evento, esto significa una oportunidad para mostrar su ciudad y la región en general, y por supuesto albergar atletas de todo el mundo.

Ivrea será recordada un tiempo por ser anfitriona de no solo este mundial, sino también por acoger 5 días antes el Campeonato del Mundo U23 y Junior de Slalom Canoa. En un periodo de dos semanas el rio que cruza la ciudad tendrá másvida que nunca.

El evento comenzará el día 21 y finalizará el 24 de Julio: La competición oficial comienza el domingo con el Downriver (en Chavvone-Sarre) en el Valle de Aosta, y desde el lunes se celebrará en Ivrea el Slalom y el RX.

Italia está preparada para hacer sentirse como en casa a los participantes de esta competición. Serán 12 países y 35 equipos los que participarán, así que todos los esfuerzos de la organización están puestos en un objetivo: que los atletas y toda la gente extranjera en general, se lleven un bonito recuerdo del evento, el entorno y los anfitriones, porque es una de las primeras grandes competiciones.

La ceremonia de inauguración seráen el famoso “Forte di Bard”, una fortificación construida en el siglo XIX por la casa de Saboya.

Carolina Navarro Casares for World Rafting Federation

Nepal Rafting & Canoeing Association, already ICF Member, has become part of the World Rafting Federation. In the implementation of the ICF-WRF Co-operative Agreement, in fact, the WRF is facilitating the process of ICF members joining the WRF.

"The Nepal's membership is a good news for all the WRF movement and provides a great boost to the continued growth of our sport in Asia. Moreover, we want to work with NRCA's white water stakeholders to enhance the sustainability of the paddle sports in Nepal." said Matteo Benciolini, WRF Secretary General.

"First of all I would like to convey my best wishes to the World Rafting Federation. We would be happy to be affiliated to WRF. As we are the authorised body for water sports canoeing and Rafting in Nepal, registered at Nepal government sports council and member of ICF, we are ready to embark on this new path" said Sudip Raj Gautam, Secretary General Nepal Rafting & Canoeing Association.