Despite restrictions around the pandemic changing all the time, the Rafting Association of Serbia (RAS) managed to hold the EC Ibar Serbia 2020 event – well done to them! The event was held on the 3rd October, one week after their Serbian Cup in Brodarevo on Lim. The venue was the Grmčić course near Ušće on the Ibar, and has put this famous kayak course on the list of places where international rafting competitions are held. The event is part of the IRF’s 2020 Euro Cup R4 Series.
Disciplines
Since all disciplines were to be held in one day, and since all health restrictions needed to be adhered to, it was agreed with the team captains to hold two Sprints instead of the H2H. This ensured teams would not come into contact with each other.
Teams
Six teams competed in the men’s division, the most famous being RK Dajak Klub from Banja Luka, a world-class rafting team. The other five teams were Serbian teams, familiar names at any Serbian championship. They were – RK Eko Lim Priboj, KK “Nikola Tesla” from Zemun, RK MRI from Lajkovac and two young teams of Military Academy cadets from Belgrade who jointly cooperated and trained with RK Tifran from Belgrade.
In the women’s division last year’s champions, RK Eko Lim from Priboj, had to cancel at the last minute, so the women from the local RK Kebone, supported by competitors from the kayak clubs, Studenica and Ibar, formed the only team in the women’s competition.
The racing
RK Dajak dominated all races and deservedly took first place in all disciplines coming away with the maximum total of 900 points and the Overall win.
RK Eko-Lim took second in the Slalom and one of the Sprint races. KKK Nikola Tesla took second in the Downriver and one of the Sprint races. This left the two teams with the same number of points at the end, but RK Eko Lim took Overall second place because it was more successful in slalom. KKK Nikola Tesla achieved a great result and showed that they have great potential.
A similar situation occurred in the fight for 4th place where two teams ended up with the same number of points. Military Academy 1 took 4th place over RK MRI from Lajkovac due to them winning the Slalom. Military Academy 2 took 6th place.
RK Kebone were the only ones in the women’s competition and raced all the disciplines on an equal footing with the men’s teams, and in some disciplines they even had better times than some of those teams. A great future for this team.
EC Ibar Serbia 2020 success is due to team work
“On behalf of the Rafting Association of Serbia, I thank all participants, competitors, judges and photographers. Slavko Trifunovic for setting and preparing the course and gates with the help of Kayak Club Studenica. The clubs and academic institutions that provided boats for the competition (RC Eco Lim, MRI, Tifran, Vojna Academy and FSFV University of Belgrade) and I hope that in the coming time we will be able to organize competitions in easier conditions.” said Dusan Jokic, RAS Vice President.
Božidar Radomirović and Nenad Miković are responsible for the great photos and sending beautiful pictures of rafting to the world.
Links:
- Results
- Photos – Nenad Miković
- Photos – Božidar Radomirović
- Article in Serbian
- RAS Facebook page with more photos and videos
Final Euro Cup of 2020 still to come
Rafting Association of Serbia have one more Euro Cup race for us this year…. Priboj on the river Lim. November 20 -22. Check out the website listing for more details.
#RaftersAreAwesome #strongertogether #weareirf
