Contents:
a) WRC in KOREA - June 2007
b) Historyc) Disciplinesd) Past Resultse) Media for previous an upcoming events
a) WRC in Korea - June 2007
IRF WORLD RAFTING CHAMPIONSHIP 200 7, Naerinchon river, Korea, 27 June – 2 July
Korea is pleased to host rafters from around the world for the 2007 IRF World Rafting Championships on our river. We hope to see every national team around the world participating. The official WRC website is www.2007wrc.com .
Teams
National federations that are fully paid up members of the IRF may enter one women's and one men's team. The teams of six plus a reserve (optional) must be selected through fair and credible national selections in accordance with the IRF Race Rules.
Schedule
June 27 Official practice
June 28 Official practice
June 29 Official practice / Opening Ceremony
June 30 Sprint / Optional practice
July 1 Slalom / Optional practice
July 2 Downriver/ Trophy Presentation/ Closing Party
July 3 Departure
Location
The host town is Inje ( www.inje.go.kr ) , a small, agricultural town, close to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Nature Reserve, and Korean's all-time favourite, Mt. Sorak National Park. Inje is located in the north-eastern part of Korea and is 2 hours from Seoul and 3.5 hours from the Incheon International Airport which is the main airport for Seoul.
Please, refer http://www.knto.or.kr/main.jsp for general tourism info of Korea
River
The Naerinchon is a low volume mountain river which swells during the Monsoon season in late-June early-July.
Contact
Sue Liell-Cock, IRF Secretary General,
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Sung-hoon Oh, Event Director, 2007 IRF World Rafting Championships
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or
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Phone +82-16-241-2527
b) History
The World Rafting Championship has its origins in the international events of Project RAFT in which up to 50 teams competed in various disciplines including Slalom and Down River on the Chuya river, Siberia (1987), Nanthala river, USA (1989), Reventazón and Pacuare rivers, Costa Rica (1991) and Coruh river, Turkey (1993). Later, the Camel White Water Challenge (CWWC) took place on the Zambezi river, Zimbabwe (1995–1997 and 2001), Reventazón and Pacuare rivers, Costa Rica (1998), Orange river, South Africa (1999) and Futalefu river, Chile (2000).
The last three events were given the status of World Championships and for this reason the teams had to qualify through selection events at the national and continental levels in coordination with the International Rafting Federation (IRF). In the year 2000 the IRF resolved to hold the World Rafting Championships every 2 years and eliminate the selection events at the continental level to facilitate the development of the sport at the international level.
Consequentially the World Rafting Championships have been held on the Reventazón and Pacuare rivers, Costa Rica (1998), Orange river, South Africa (1999) and Futalefu river, Chile (2000)Gauley river, USA (2001), Vlatava river, Czech Republic (2003) and on the Quijos River, Ecuador (2005) with the 2007 event to be held on the Naerinchon River in South Korea from the 27 June to 2 July.
c) Disciplines
Rafting competitions consist of 3 disciplines – Sprint, Slalom and Downriver. The points earned in each discipline are added to determine the Overall winner and final positions. Each team has 6 members with the option to have a reserve.
• The Sprint is without doubt the most visually exciting discipline and counts for 30% of the total points. This event is an elimination race in which pairs of teams race down a section of powerful rapids. The winner of each heat proceeds to the next round and eventually just 2 teams will remain for the Final.
• The Slalom is the most technically challenging event and counts for 30% percent of the total points. This event demands a high level of technique and teamwork to negotiate the rafts through 12 downriver and upriver gates in powerful rapids. Touching, failing to pass or intentionally moving a gate results in a penalty. Each team runs the course twice and their best time is used to determine the results.
• The Downriver is the star event and is worth 40% of the total score. The race is close to an hour of racing along of a section of continuous and powerful rapids. Technical ability and endurance are essential elements to ensuring a good position in this event which is crucial for the teams that aspire to win the Championship. The points earned by the teams in the previous events determine their position in the starting line-up in groups up to 5 rafts.
d) Past Results
Download full results here as Adobe Acrobat files
1998 (Costa Rica, Reventazón and Pacuare Rivers)
1999 (South Africa, Augrabies River Gorge, Orange River)
2000 (Chile, Futaleufu River)
2001 (USA, Gore Canyon)
2003 (Czech Republic, Lipno)
2005 (Ecuador, Quijos River Valley)
Summary of Past Results
| | Men | Women |
| 1998 | 1 | Slovenia | 1 | USA |
| 2 | Czech Rep | 2 | Britain |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | Slovakia |
| 1999 | 1 | Slovenia | 1 | New Zealand |
| 2 | Russia | 2 | United States |
| 3 | Czech Rep | 3 | Great Britain |
| 2000 | 1 | Russia | 1 | New Zealand |
| 2 | Slovakia | 2 | United States |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | Slovakia |
| 2001 | 1 | Germany | 1 | Czech Rep |
| 2 | Italy | 2 | Slovakia |
| 3 | Czech Rep | 3 | United States |
| 2003 | 1 | Czech Rep | 1 | New Zealand |
| 2 | Germany | 2 | Czech Rep |
| 3 | Brazil | 3 | Slovakia |
| 2005 | 1 | Russia | 1 | Czech Rep |
| 2 | Czech Rep | 2 | New Zealand |
| 3 | USA | 3 | Slovakia |
| 2006 | 1 | | 1 | |
| 2 | | 2 | |
| 3 | | 3 | |
| 2007 | 1 | | 1 | |
| 2 | | 2 | |
| 3 | | 3 | |
