By Luca Scaramella

A synergic effort, uniting Val di Sole kayak lovers wanting to take back the sport in one of its most beautiful natural stages, with the local administration, the touristic board, many private partners and sponsors as well as numerous volunteers believing in the project; kayak was successfully taken back in this area, further increasing its touristic appeal.

Such is the impression left by this two-days Whitewater Weekend raced in Mezzana and Caldes in the hearts and eyes of the numerous slalom and sprint kayakers who took part in the racing weekend.

Also the slalom event’s format was successful with the final score deriving from the sum of the individual results of the two races. Such format drives the athletes to give their best both days, pushes their ability to be resilient under pressure, to activate several times during a single weekend, and to increasingly familiarize more with the typical atmosphere of high level races.

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With such format, Italy didn’t fail to meet the expectations set, succeeding in taking home the victory of the international race organized by Rafting Kayak Canoa Club Val di Sole, with Zeno Ivaldi, racing for CC Verona winning K1 Men, Raffaello Ivaldi C1 Men, whilst Stefanie Horn, racing for Marina Militare, won from Stepanka Hilvertova in K1 Women.

“Let sincerely hope that this marks only the beginning of an even more decisive return of kayak in

Val di Sole” – said in Mezzana the Italian DT Ettore Ivaldi. “The quality of the Italian team during the race and the level, both qualitative and quantitative, of the foreign athletes was highly satisfactory. Also they have greatly appreciated to have succeeded to take back here, in this outstanding stage, the canoe kayak show”.

Saturday the appointment of the Italian junior titles; yesterday the second part of the international race that has seen Italian paddlers racing very well in the waters of the Trentino river and achieving important results in the final results.

With regard to Sunday event, Paolo Ceccon returned to the splendour of the past, winning the C1 Men; the paddler racing for CCKV Valstagna won in 91.29, in front of the Czech athlete Frantiserk Jordan and the racer of CC Verona, Raffaello Ivaldi. The Welsh Emily Davies won in the C1 Women category, in front of Anastasia Bettuzzi racing for CC Bologna; third place for Lili Bryant, second Welsh athlete on the podium.

After yesterday’s defeat, a come-back also for Stepanka Hilgertova in K1 Women, also if meaningless in terms of impacting the overall results. The Czech athlete wins by a very small margin in front of the Italian spearhead Stefanie Horn, racing for Marina Militare, who wins silver in front of the German athlete Ann Kathrin Schwanholt.

In the male category, today’s race was won by the Czech athlete Lubos Hilgert, finishing before Zeno Ivaldi, racing for CC Verona, and Andrea Romeo, paddler of Marina Militare. Giacomo Borgiani and Alex Lenzi, racing for CC Bologna, won the C2 category, whilst in the C2 Mix category Steanie Horn and Niccolo’ Ferrari won against Fulvio Fina and Nina Roggiery.

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