The 2010 World Rafting Championships is over. Keep checking the site as we will be posting the time and networks that will be airing the 52 minute TV production. If you are interested in having the show aired on your local network please contact us immediately to see if we can arrange it.
Jul 192010
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Jul 172010
July 17 – Downriver
The Teva World Champs couldn’t have asked for a better finish. The downriver race, its multiple laps (5 for women and 6 for men) proved to be grueling and took its toll on the athletes. Each lap you could see them getting more tired. But in the end every one of the teams took on the challenge of the downriver and gave it their all. The downriver was watched closely by many shouting spectators throughout the course. The ability to watch the teams do multiple laps was a great crowd pleaser.
The women’s race had the Slovakian team out front but on the whitewater course they had a swimmer who swam into the flat water below which took them into last position in their heat of 7. They struggled and fought hard to get back but ended up taking 7th place overall. Japan however kept increasing their lead once they took control. They won the downriver with a time of 29.28:62. The Canadian women had a great run as they started in the slower ranked heat and took 4th place in the Downriver.
In the final heat of the men the start was huge and Brazil took the lead and kept it the whole way. However in the beginning the Czechs, USA and Japan battled each other for a while but they sorted it out with Japan coming in 2nd and the USA 3rd. The upset was New Zealand, in the previous heat they had a fast race and took 3rd overall.
With the downriver out of the way teams are celebrating and waiting for the prize giving of the downriver and overall results. For complete details of the results go to the results section at the official WRC website.
We will post the overall results later tonight.
Jul 172010
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Jul 172010
We have over 500 pictures on the Teva Benelux Flickr page. Below is just a few examples of the pictures.
All photos are credited to fotodolkens.nl
Youth Sprint
Youth Slalom
Youth Downriver
Sprint
Sprint
Slalom
Slalom
Slalom
H2H
H2H
Slalom
We are back online and can keep you updated on the greatest rafting event in the World bought to you by TEVA Benelux . Today is the Slalom race and so far it has proved to be a great event with a lot of challenging gates. Below is a recap of the WRC,prior to today and links to the photos and video.
- Check out the official World Rafting Champs website
- Photos from the event are online at the Teva Benelux Flickr site
- You Tube video do a search for user worldraftingchamps as we are loading video there each day
July 15
Today was a busy day on the course at the Teva World Rafting Champs (WRC) and Teva Youth World Rafting Champs. The Youth event had its last event the downriver while the WRC had their first 2 events, the sprint and head to head (H2H)
The youth downriver went very well and was a grueling event. It’s hard to raft for a few minutes, paddle flat water for a few more minutes and then run uphill to the top of the course to do it 3 more times. The youth teams did a great job and showed great athletic prowess and will be an even greater part of rafting in the future.
In the youth men’s division the Germans and Russians were out front early and battled between themselves for 1st and 2nd with the Germans crossing the line first. The battle for third and fourth was intense as well with the Netherlands and Czech republic going hard at each other and this included a couple of lead changes. In the end the Netherlands held their ground, ran well and came in third.
For the women the Netherlands bid their time and waited for Germany and Russia to battle it out and then came on strong and passed them both. From then on they held the lead and won the race. Germany took second and Russia Third
The 1st Youth World Rafting Championships has come to an end. The complete results are available on the official website. The top teams in the men were Russia (1), Germany (2) and Netherlands (3). The women’s overall winners were Netherlands (1), Germany (2) and Russia (3).
The WRC Sprint saw Russia in the top spot followed by Japan, Czech Republic, Brazil and in 5th and a great showing Indonesia. The women’s saw Great Britain stomp the rest of the field with a time over 2 seconds faster than the Netherlands in 2nd place. USA took 3rd followed by Slovakia and then Italy.
The H2H battle lines were drawn and the fun began. The first round had no real upsets although it was close when Bulgaria tried to take the USA. Round 2 of the eliminations saw all the expected teams move to the next round of 8 except New Zealand who were penalized.
In the Round of 8 Brazil beat Great Britain, Japan beat the USA, Slovakia beat Hungary (they flipped on the course) and Russia Beat Australia. In the round of 4 Japan Beat Brazil and Slovakia beat Russia. The final was a great race with Japan having lane advantage. However the Slovakian team showed there true skill and teamwork and managed to pass Japan and take first place. The Slovakian team has been one of the top teams for many years and it’s good to see them upset the favored teams and take the gold in the sprint. Brazil came 3rd with Russia 4th.
The women’s H2H was just as exiting and in the round of 16 the Czech Republic upset the rankings by beating the USA. In the round of 8 the Slovakian team beat New Zealand, Japan beat Netherlands, Russia beat the Czech Republic and Great Britain beat Hungary. In the semi finals Slovakia beat Japan and Russia beat Great Britain. This set up a great final and it was close to the end but the Slovakian team took the win. Great Britain took 3rd and Japan 4th.
It was a long day and a lot of racing. Many people worked hard to make it happen. The crew from the Dutch Rafting Federation, all the judges, safety crew, and volunteers from the Whitewater School made it happen. Thank you to all of you for your hard work and dedication to make this happen.
July 14, 2010
Today’s Youth Teva World Rafting Championships had the teams using their technical skills to their fullest. The slalom course consisted of 12 gates hanging over the river in positions that many teams had trouble with while others made the course look easier.
In the end the Germans reigned supreme in both the men’s and women’s division. The German men had time of 2.35:24 which included 2 penalties for touching the poles. The German ladies had a total time of 3.55:31 which included 6 touch penalties. 2nd place in the men’s division was Russia followed by the Czech Republic. In the women’s division the Netherland women took 2nd and Venezuela 3rd by improving their time by 4 minutes.
Overall standings after 3 events for the top teams are:
- Youth Women – Germany (1), Netherlands (2), Venezuela (3), Russia (4), Great Britain (5)
- Youth Men – Russia (1), Germany (2), Czech Republic (3), Netherlands (4), Turkey (5)
Overall Results
For the World Rafting Championship (WRC) today was slalom practice. The teams breezed through the first practice session as the course was set for the youth teams. However the 2nd practice had a new set of gates waiting for them. Much more consistent with a world championship level and this required them all to dig deeper and think harder to ensure clean lines. The most action was in gates 8 and 9 with various teams flipping and many others surfing in their attempts to cross the river and run both upstream gates.
Teva World Rafting Championship has 29 countries represented with 29 men and 15 women teams. The inaugural Teva Youth World Championship has 13 countries represented with 13 men’s teams and 5 women’s. The opening ceremony held in the Flowrider area of Dutch Water Dreams is still going with the official team photos being taken while they surf the Flowrider. Take a look at the photos on the Teva Benalux flickr site and see for yourself. The opening ceremony which was short and sweet is setting up to be a fantastic event with a lot of energy and one spicy slalom course.
July 13th 2010
This morning the teams practiced the sprint and head to head (H2H). They will have a second round of practice this afternoon. Most teams are handling the course well and making the necessary moves to get through the rapids upright. We have seen a few flips and some swims but the professional safety team made sure all swimmers were okay.
The second race of the Teva Youth World Championships was the head to head race. Two teams battling it out with the winner advancing the next round. The men’s quarter-finals saw The Czech Republic beat Slovenia, Netherlands beat Great Britain, Russia beat Germany and Turkey beat the Czech Republic mixed team. In the Semi-finals Czech Republic advanced to the final defeating the Netherlands and as did Russia crossing the line in front of Turkey.
The men’s youth final was a great race with Russia taking full advantage of their lane choice. However the Czech Republic put up a great fight and although they never managed to bump or push the Russians out of the way they gave it their all till they got caught on top of the courses biggest drop the mother. After being held up for a few seconds Russia pulled ahead, never looked back and won the race.
The women’s race saw the Netherlands move to the final after beating Venezuela and Germany beat Russia to advance. The final race saw the Netherlands take control from the get go and win gold for the home team. The team consists of Nina the team captain and Karin from The Hague plus Anke and Krysia who are from the CIOS sports and education school. CIOS is supporting the Teva World Rafting Championship with over 50 volunteers.
Today’s race went well and the organizing team from Dutch Water Dreams and the Dutch Rafting Federation did a great job. The only downfall is that there was an unfair, and too big an advantage for the team who had lane choice as the left bank starting position pulled rafts upstream in an eddy and angled the raft making it virtually impossible to ever win from that lane unless you had a lucky surge in the current, the wind blew in your favor and you had a great deal of luck and the opposing team messed up the run. Only Czech Republic got lucky and passed Netherlands when they landed on an island in the course.
Jul 122010
The 
attached PDF is a report by the IRF in regards to the Euro Championships
Jun 192010
June 19, 2010 -
- Transportation arrangements Schiphol airport Amsterdam – NH hotel Zoetermeer v.v.
- Change team numbers until June 15 2010
- Payment instructions
- Lunch/dinner reservations July 11 and July 12 (upon request)
- Training sessions prior to WRC 2010 (upon request)
- Optional Accommodation
YOUTH WRC updates
June 19, 2010:
Jun 162010
Dates: 12 – 14 July
Location: Dutch Water Dreams – Zoetermeer, Netherlands
For who:
- New Judges – For all persons wishing to become an IRF Judge. Cost : 15 Euros;
- Judges wanting to Improve – For all persons who are already IRF Judges. No cost.
Depending on numbers – these two groups may be joined.
Schedule:
- 12 July – all day – workshop discussing rules and their implementation, also watching teams on river
- 13 July – 9 until 1pm – at river watching teams and Judges for Youth practise and doing practise judging
- 14 July – 10 – 1pm – more discussion and practise judging if needed
- 14 July – 14:45 – 16:45 – examination
Contact Sue if you are interested
Jun 142010
The IRF is shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of Branka Stulic. A message of condolences has been sent to her family on behalf of the IRF and all its members.
The IRF has been investigating the incident. All reports sent to us by those who saw the incident are being taken into consideration. We are endeavoring to conclude this as soon as is possible.
There will be numerous reports about this incident – from the police, the IRF and I’m sure many other organisations. There are many, many people who will be wishing they did things differently and they will think about it for the rest of their lives. The end result is that none of this will bring back Branka. What is therefore the most critical thing for us all to do is to do all we can to ensure that nothing like this happens again.
The IRF is taking some immediate steps in this direction. We will be putting up some documents on the Forum in the next day or two. We ask you all to keep an eye out for it there and to participate so that we can ensure your opinions and experiences are included in this.”
