The 3rd leg races of the Turkish Rafting Championship held in Çatak district of Van have started.
180 athletes from 9 provinces are participating in the championship held in Çatak Stream in cooperation with the Turkish Canoe Federation, Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports and Çatak District Governorship. The championship in Çatak Stream, which has one of the longest tracks in Türkiye and attracts the attention of rafters, will end on July 18. A total of 250 people are hosted, including 33 teams, 180 athletes, administrators, coaches and the referee committee.
Gürkan Köse, Rafting General Coordinator of the Turkish Canoe Federation and 2nd President of the World Rafting Federation, said in his statement about the event, "This organization is organized jointly by the Turkish Canoe Federation, Van Youth and Sports Provincial Directorate and Çatak District Governorship. Our goal here is to spread rafting all over Türkiye, to train athletes worthy of these sports and to bring the brotherhood of sports to the public. There is participation from many provinces of Türkiye. Muğla, Yozgat, There are Giresun, Rize, Hakkari, Tunceli, Diyarbakır and Çatak trails. The tracks have a medium level of difficulty. On the other hand, the main feature that distinguishes rafting from other branches is that it is a sport performed on a moving surface. That is why we did not encounter any difficulties during the organization process. "It is 1 hour away. It is easy to access all kinds of facilities. We did not encounter any difficulties here. On the contrary, there is much more satisfaction and peace than expected," he said.
Ahmet Raşitoğlu, one of the athletes from Rize, stated that he is a national team athlete and said, "We are having some difficulties here due to the altitude, but the track is a very beautiful track. The race continues. We are currently on our way to the championship. I hope we will finish the race with the championship." -VAN