Until 2017, the rafting team from Sterzing was automatically also Team Italy due to its victories in the Italian Championships, having represented Italy in the various international competitions without interruption since 1999.
As the Italian Rafting Federation withdrew from the International Rafting Federation in January 2018, participation in international events organized by the IRF will no longer be possible. From now on, our athletes will participate in races and events organized by the newly founded World Rafting Federation.
The R4 Italy 2019 team included the 4 Sterzing-based riders Robert Schifferle, Michael Zanella, Mark Mair, Damiano Casazza and Martin Unterthurner from Merano. The R6 team will be supplemented with other youth athletes from SV Sterzing. Despite their many successes, the athletes have to prove themselves time and again and win the specified qualification.
In 2018, only one international race was held in Banja Luca. The race was organized by the newly founded World Rafting Federation. Participation in national competitions was now only compulsory, with at least one race a year.
2020 was a special year. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, training was only possible late in the spring. Only 2 races were held on one weekend. Our old/new athletes, Schifferle Robert, Brunner Robert, Volgger Hansi and Kaser Alex, won the Italian championship title again in the Senior R4 category.
The participation in international races is denied by the Italian federation, therefore the athletes of the senior team have decided to end their racing career. Perhaps they still take part in international races as guests of honor. From 2023, we will only be amateur athletes.