Today’s Youth Teva World Rafting Championships had the teams using their technical skills to their fullest. The slalom course consisted of 12 gates hanging over the river in positions that many teams had trouble with while others made the course look easier.

In the end the Germans reigned supreme in both the men’s and women’s division. The German men had time of 2.35:24 which included 2 penalties for touching the poles. The German ladies had a total time of 3.55:31 which included 6 touch penalties. 2nd place in the men’s division was Russia followed by the Czech Republic. In the women’s division the Netherland women took 2nd and Venezuela 3rd by improving their time by 4 minutes.

Overall standings after 3 events for the top teams are: 

•  Youth Women – Germany (1), Netherlands (2), Venezuela (3), Russia (4), Great Britain (5)
•  Youth Men – Russia (1), Germany (2), Czech Republic (3), Netherlands (4), Turkey (5)

For the World Rafting Championship (WRC) today was slalom practice. The teams breezed through the first practice session as the course was set for the youth teams. However the 2nd practice had a new set of gates waiting for them. Much more consistent with a world championship level and this required them all to dig deeper and think harder to ensure clean lines. The most action was in gates 8 and 9 with various teams flipping and many others surfing in their attempts to cross the river and run both upstream gates.

Teva World Rafting Championship has 29 countries represented with 29 men and 15 women teams. The inaugural Teva Youth World Championship has 13 countries represented with 13 men’s teams and 5 women’s. The opening ceremony held in the Flowrider area of Dutch Water Dreams is still going with the official team photos being taken while they surf the Flowrider. Take a look at the photos on the Teva Benalux flickr site and see for yourself. The opening ceremony which was short and sweet is setting up to be a fantastic event with a lot of energy and one spicy slalom course.