Excitement is building ahead of this year’s ICF Dragon Boat World Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, in September, as the sport celebrates a return to competition after Covid-related cancellations.

Teams from three continents have already entered the September 1-4 event, and more nations are expected to take up the opportunity to test their best boats against quality opposition.

The deadline for entry is August 20, with races over 200, 500 and 2000 metres. There will be senior, masters and junior titles on the line, in open, women and mixed boats, and national federations are urged to get their entries in.

Online registration can be carried out here, while entries must be made through the ICF entry system SDP by a team’s National Federation at sdp@canoeicf.com

More information can be found in the latest event official bulletin, and at the official event page.

This year’s world championships was originally planned to be held in Ukraine, but had to be relocated after the Russian invasion. The Czech Canoe Union agreed to take over as hosts, running the event alongside their own Czech National Dragon Boat Championships.

The last full ICF Dragon Boat World Championships were held on Lake Lanier in the USA in 2018, when Germany topped the medal table. The 2020 world championships were scheduled for Bilawali Lake in Indore, India, but was cancelled because of the global pandemic.