Why the Old Radunia River?

In the inter-war years The Free City of Danzig was aspiring to electric power self-sufficiency. The Senate of the Free City passed the necessary decisions to the effect that the power stations in Lapino and Bielkowo were built. In Kolbudy, a canal was built which made use of the natural inclination of the terrain and shortened the river. In 1924 an approximately 7 km long section of the River Radunia was cut off from the natural flow when a dam was built in the near-by town of Kolbudy. The river's main stream was redirected to a reservoir in order to supply water to the newly-built power plant in Bielkowko. The average inclination on the Old Radunia River is over 6 m per 1 km, while in some places it exceeds 10 m per 1 km. There is no other place like this in the Pomerania Region.

The origins of the idea of the Championship.

In Poland, recreation instructors specialising in kayaking receive their qualifications in many varied centres. They complete courses organised specifically for that purpose or receive their qualifications from specialised educational institutions. Despite a rather uniform syllabus there still exist differences in the professional preparation of the instructors. The disparities are caused by the local teaching capacities and, above all, by the local needs.

It goes without saying that a different set of skills is required of a kayaking instructor who is leading a white water trip, to one leading on low land rivers, and different again when the trip takes place on sea. Polish legislature does not distinguish kayaking instructors according to the style of kayaking they pursue. As a consequence a good instructor should be able to paddle and lead an organised group on any type of water. Safety of the participants under the leadership of a kayak instructor is reliant upon their skills, or lack thereof.

It is precisely from such safety considerations that the idea of the Championship was born - an idea of having an event during which the instructors themselves would be able to compare and verify their own skills across the spectrum of recreational kayaking. For this to happen there had to be appropriate conditions: the paddling route had to approximate conditions met on white water, strainer river, as well as on sea. To verify the group-leading skills of an instructor it would not have been sufficient to paddle on slowly moving water where the instructor's tasks are much easier. Instead, we needed a river which could cause some problems and which would require from the leading instructor a higher level of kayaking skills.

Paddling the „big water ” on the Old Radunia Old River - when did it begin?

In the late eighties and the early nineties of the last century in Kolbudy there took place several paddling events under the name of 'The Autumn Kayak Meetings'. Those who were actively kayaking back in those days, will have remembered that it was an exceptional event for its time.

This exceptionality was owed to the paddling route. The Old Radunia River, usually deprived of water and inaccessible to kayaks, filled to the brim with water directed there by a weir in Kolbudy during 'The Autumn Kayak Meetings'. And these were the days where almost everyone was on fibreglass kayaks, usually of a purely touristic type, doubles and without a spraydeck (true, we had heard about the 'polyethylenes', but no one from our circles had one yet). As a result, at least a half of the kayaks would return from the meeting seriously damaged. A big problem for the organisers was posed by the retrieval of those kayaks which had sunk after becoming entrapped somewhere among the trees heaped in the riverbed. Naturally, this would take place after the water was closed. So, what have The Autumn Meetings to do with the Instructor Championship? The short answer is, the route and the way it is provided with water.

The Autumn Kayak Meetings belong to the past now. People passed away, the local base and the equipment disappeared. The old bed of the river remained, but there water was missing. To be precise, missing was the possibility of opening the weir in Kolbudy. Why? Well, Radunia is one of the most hard-working rivers n the Pomerania region. Water power stations utilise water accumulated in the reservoirs to propel their turbines. Unproductive directing of water to the Old Radunia River simply costs money. And that's the whole secret.

But the idea of paddling on the Old Radunia River endured, we kept vivid memories of the fun we had paddling the river at high water. It is true, we did paddle there during spring when melting snow supplied Radunia's tributary, the Reknica River, with enough water to make paddling possible. But that just wasn't 'it' what made the route on the Old Radunia River during The Autumn Kayak Meetings so exceptional.

The breakthrough came completely unexpectedly. On a map of the kayaking world in Poland appeared the Parish Kayak Club 'Radunia' in Straszyn - a town which since time immemorial has been the home to the institutions managing the water power plants on Radunia river. And it proved that the neighbouring kayakers and energy men were able to come to an agreement and what seemed impossible became a fact.

We started in 2007 in a very narrow circle – in only a selected bunch and very cautious with water. Remembering developments from the past, we had only 3 cubic meters of water directed to the Old Radunia. However, with improved equipment and a higher class of participant skills, it did not knock us off our feet. We decided, that the next time round we can easily allow ourselves more water. Hence, in 2008, 8 cubic meters flowed into the river. This time it was too much. Paradoxically, paddling on the Old Radunia became easier, because the majority of the fallen trees on the river bed were completely submerged under water. Admittedly, going over the man-made barrier - where the slalom takes place - in Bielkowko became a problem as there formed a very sticky stopper. But we had our professional team of life guards after all: nets, lines, throw lines, even a dog life guard, and the problem was solved. We decided that a flow of about 6 to 7 cubic meters per second should be optimal for the purpose of the Instructor Championship.

Success has many fathers and this is not necessarily because everyone is sticking out a chest for orders, but for an entirely different reason. Each kayaking event is a result of cooperation between many people whose individual actions determine the final character of the undertaking. Who should be named as the father of the Kayak Instructors Championship in Poland?

There can be no doubt that it was the late Tadeusz Błocki – the unforgettable one and only 'Uncle Ant' - who was the originator of the idea to use the Old Radunia River for kayaking. His life became inextricably connected with the Zabi Kruk Club, and in the eighties, with GOSiR in Kolbudy. The second crucial event in the history of paddling the Old Radunia River was the reactivation of the competition after years of inexistence/dormancy. Here one cannot omit the role played by Father Wojciech Lange, the propelling power behind the Parish Kayak Club in Straszyno. Lastly, the Instructor Championship itself - also here we can identify the originator of the idea - it was the late Krzysztof Książek, the head of PZKaj who once tabled the idea, as if in passing, during an unassuming conversation.

However, there is a lot of ground to cover between the idea and its realisation, so when talking about the 'fathers of the event' one should not forget about those who work to put the word into practice. Luckily, there should not be disagreements here either, it should suffice to compare the members of the organising committee of The Autumn Kayak Meetings with that of the Kayak Instructor Championship.