On the 23rd of November the IRF held a very successful virtual Congress. Usually the IRF holds its Congresses during World Rafting Championships, with the last held in Tully, Australia in May 2019. But, as with so many things these days, adaptations needed to be made and the IRF has stepped up to embrace virtual meetings. For international organisations, holding virtual meetings makes a lot of sense and this was witnessed as key delegates were able to attend our successful virtual Congress more easily than our previous face-to-face Congresses.

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The IRF was recently invited to attend a number of international sporting body assemblies and forums. The first was the Virtual International Federation (IF) Forum which is a 1-day event organised by SportAccord offering targeted thematic sessions designed to be of specific value to the International Sport Federations’ in attendance. Representing the IRF were President Joseph Jones, Secretary-General Sue Liell-Cock and International Relations Chair Peter Micheler.  President Jones and Secretary General Liell-Cock were also honored to attend the General Assemblies of the Alliance of Independent recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).

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Everyone is excited about the return to World Rafting Championships (WRC). But WRC 2022 will be different to all other WRCs – travel and COVID-19 compliance now go hand-in-hand. Below we set out where the competition will be, how to get there and how to stay compliant with the current Bosnian health and travel restrictions.

WRC 2022 is an R4 event. Travel and COVID compliance advice applies to all four athletes, reserve(s), coaches, managers, friends and family, supporters, and anyone else travelling with, or to see, teams.

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While white water rafting is an exciting activity, it has its inherent dangers. It is considered an extreme sport due to the level of fitness required, along with there being a real risk of injury, or even death. This means that this is not a sport that you can simply delve into without the proper knowledge and training. If you’re planning on exploring white water rafting, here are 5 beginner tips that you first need to know.

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The A-DASH Collaborative is pleased to announce a focus on ending sexual harassment on and around river recreation at the upcoming River Management Roundtable on Tuesday, 23rd November from 20:30 to 21:30 (CET).

“This will be an excellent primer for river managers, company principals and human resource leaders who are looking for an effective approach to eliminating workplace discrimination and harassment” notes Angie Fuhrmann, RMS River Training Center Coordinator. “The A-DASH (Anti-Discrimination and Sexual Harassment) Collaborative will share how their river professionals and trainers are throwing a rope to outfitters and agencies, wherever they’re at in the process.” Through tailored training and policy assessment, the A-DASH Collaborative approach intends to create genuine culture change within river- based organisations.

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By Mihai Mares

We are happy to introduce to you Romania as the newest european country with an artificial whitewater channel! And just last week we held the Cornișa Cup 2021 on its waters.

After six years of planning and construction and careful safety assessments Cornișa AquaPark and Sports opened its pumps for tourists in July 2021.

Soon after, at the end of October in probably the last sunny and warm weekend of the year Cornișa administration together with Asociatia Profesionala de Rafting Romana blew the start whistle of the first ever rafting and kayaking competition on such premises – the Cornișa Cup 2021.

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UN Climate Change News, 3 November 2021: ambitious new targets for Sports for Climate Action

A number of ambitious emissions reductions targets were announced by the UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action Framework (S4CA) today. These include reaching Net Zero by 2040 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 at the latest.

This comes in response to the scientific consensus that the world needs to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero before 2050.

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The IRF has partnered with ARK Inflatables to offer one lucky winner two amazing ARK Inflatables 2021 whitewater crafts!

ARK Inflatables raft in the Camel White Water Challenge 1997, Zambezi river

African River Kraft’s (ARK Inflatables) rafts are well known to the IRF and many people will recognise some of their famous designs and use in World Rafting Championships over the past decades.

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