There are a number of places you can follow this year’s Euro Rafting Champs. So here are the options:

Nada Matic has been a big and important part of the IRF’s rafting world since the start of 2012. It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to her as she steps back from the IRF’s media position.

Nada became a part of the IRF’s media team purely through her love of the sport. Sue Liell-Cock describes how it came about. “I started receiving great recommendations of pictures to post on our Facebook page, and this then grew into a lasting working relationship with Nada with her eventually becoming the IRF Media Representative. Our Facebook following would not be where it is now if it hadn’t been for her dedication to rafting!”

. . . → continue reading . . . Nada bows out for a break
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“Fay Rushby and Nicola Childs have been rafting together as part of Lee Valley Women’s Master’s Team for roughly 2 years. The early team was placed in the British Open in 2016. Julie first paddled with the team as an independent in the British Open 2017 when the team won the Category 2 race for non-selected and non-professional teams. They raced R6 format but with only 5 paddlers as they were 1 short!

Over Christmas 2017 British Rafting helped pull together the current team with the addition of Anita from the Dee Dragons who was due to enter the . . . → continue reading . . . Meet GBR Masters Women team for ERC R4 2018 Slovakia
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We hope you are looking forward to this event as much as we are!

Here are some reminders ….

#irferc That’s the hashtag to use for the ERC. So use it for all your posts where ever you make them. Twitter feed for #irferc can be found in the left hand column on the IRF website.

Team promotion Email IRF Media so you can get an article on our website about your team! Or send links of ones already written about you.

If you’ve got kids – don’t for that the Pantheon foundation invites you to unofficial European Kids Rafting Championship!

Live Blog There will . . . → continue reading . . . ERC 2018 Participants – reminders
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The International Rafting Federation would like to extend a warm welcome to the Rafting Sports Association of Pakistan (RSA) as a new member.

Pakistan has many amazing rivers and there is plenty of potential to promote rafting in Pakistan especially on the Sindh, Jehlum, Neelum and Kunhar Rivers. Right now only one river is being used by the companies for rafting and that is River Kunha River, but soon there will be rafting on the Sindh as well.

Although commercial rafting has been done there since 2008, rafting has only recently seen a spike in growth. Due to the lack of river and guiding experience in the region . . . → continue reading . . . Pakistan joins the IRF
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Most of you are aware that the newly created World Rafting Federation (WRF) and certain people in the International Canoe Federation (ICF) signed a cooperative agreement shortly after we (the IRF) filed our application for GAISF/Sport Accord membership. Although the details have been kept secret, the IRF is happy to comment on the agreement should those responsible release it publicly.

The ultimate goal of Olympic inclusion for rafting remains a top objective of the IRF. The first step to Olympic inclusion is membership of GAISF/SportAccord. Our submission for membership is acknowledged and progressing through the application process.

GAISF/SportAccord and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) require that only one internationally recognised body may represent a sport. By creating a second international body, the leaders of the WRF have delayed IOC recognition . . . → continue reading . . . Rafting and the Olympics: The Road Ahead
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Notes from a IRF GTE workshop in Russia

One thing I have observed over the years is that all great white water stories normally start with the sentence “This crazy Russian paddler … ” or “Crazy Russian inner-tube rafts.” I sat back and giggled to myself as my short flight from Helsinki touched down at St Petersburg Pulkovo airport in Russia. I was about to find out first hand if this was true or not.

My mission this week was to observe and assist in the running of the first IRF workshop in Russia for over 15 years.

For the past few seasons I have been mentoring Russian kayaker Anton Sveshnikov along the pathway to become Russia’s first IRF Instructor. The first . . . → continue reading . . . Time to stop putting the word crazy in front of the word Russian!
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