Dragon Boat, great debut for the World Championships!

Lombard capital - with a thousand people on the stands and at least as many on the banks of the basin, for the beginning of the Dragon Boat World Championship. Fourteen are the nations that have already started measuring themselves against the others in the eliminatory races: Canada, Philippines, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Hungary, United States of America.

During the eliminatory races of the first day it was the Hungarian team to have the "lion’s role" - Hungary is maybe the only nation where the sport of canoeing, in all of its specialities, is considered a national sport, just as soccer is in Italy - that has deployed vessels in all categories and was able to reach the finals with nine crews. Inevitably less brilliant, debuting, the Italian team, that was nevertheless able to honourably get to the final with the ten-rowers dragon, category "male masters", in semi-final the 20-rowers dragon in the category "senior mixed" (male and female), whereas it will have to fight in the repechages for other races.

Important placements also for the Canadian representative, with seven boats in the finals, and for the Russians, with five finalist dragons. Other certain finalists from Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Czech Republic and Poland.

Continuing tomorrow in the morning with the eliminatory races for the 500m and, in the afternoon, the first finals; Saturday finals for the 2000m and first heat for the 200m, Sunday sprint-day with the semi-finals and finals on the 200m distance.

The scheduled races are very numerous - concept to clarify for the less experts on this sport - both because the boat challenge each other on three distances and because the boats are of two kinds - for 10 or 20 rowers - and the crews are of three types: male, female, or mixed, consisting of crews made up by both sexes, with a minimum of four women per 10-rowers boat and eight for the twenty-rowers ones. Moreover, the demographic groups are three: junior, senior, and master (over 40).

In the evening, starting from 18:45, the opening ceremony - solemnized, after eight o’clock, by a summer thunderstorm of those that paddlers surely do not fear, but that do not, on the other hand, facilitate the job of the firework team and their pyrotechnic games: only after the rain stopped the marvellous show could start.

Following the greetings of the President of the host federation - the Italian Federation canoe-kayak - Luciano Buonfiglio, came those of the host city, through the President of the Province of Milan Guido Podestà, present at the event accompanied by the Sport Councillor Cristina Stancari.

It is to remember that, in addition to the World Championships, the crews of the Italian University Employees will compete in this event, which is a real Dragon Boat Festival, and will compete for the eleventh time, and do not miss the match between the teams of Forza Rosa, that is, the legendary Breast Cancer Survivors, women who have undergone breast cancer surgery.

The entrance to the grandstands is always free. The Championships and the Festival will end with the closing ceremony, on Sunday, September 2nd at 18.00.

The competition this weekend will be broadcast by RAI (ITA) and SKY (private international TV).

For more information contact: media@canoeicf.com

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