Igor Kuzmanović, a well-known athlete from Banja Luka and a Bosnia and Herzegovina national team member, will compete in May at the Canoe and Kayak World Championship on the Vrbas River, where he has a unique opportunity to win another medal from the event—having already claimed all others.
Kuzmanović, who has won a total of 275 medals throughout his career, has been a national champion in kayaking in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has been ranked among the top 10 athletes of Republika Srpska three times.
At the end of May, Banja Luka will also host the Wildwater Canoeing World Championship and the European Rafting Championship. Kuzmanović points out that the advantage of competing on home terrain and knowing the course provides a major opportunity for him and other local athletes to win medals at these prestigious competitions.
Igor Kuzmanović, a member of the Banja Luka “Dajak Club,” will be the only athlete from the club selected by coach Darko Savić to compete in both events—canoe and rafting—while the club’s rafters will defend their titles in two categories.
“Even though we are hosting the championship this time, we still face a handicap. The kayak I use is outdated and definitely not competitive enough for the world championship, let alone for achieving a strong result,” Kuzmanović said.
He has received a promise from sponsors to provide a new modern kayak and paddle, which would allow him, for the first time in his 37-year sporting career, to compete on equal footing with top-level athletes.
Kuzmanović, who has spent practically his entire life on the water—whether in a kayak, canoe, rafting boat, or dajak—says he first swam in the Vrbas at the age of five, rowed for the first time at nine, and has since carried the river “in his veins.”
“It’s no surprise that I love the water so much. Over the past two winters, I have also been actively swimming and achieved notable results, even as an amateur. I have also competed in numerous dragon boat races, winning medals at international events. We have also won regattas on the Una River and in Sisak,” he said.
This versatile athlete, who has also completed 10 half-marathons, says he simply loves sports and nature. For the past five years, he has lived in the forest, where he built a house and enjoys clean air and nature.
“In rafting, we have won everything there is to win—world and European titles, as well as Euro and World Cups,” Kuzmanović said.
In canoeing, Kuzmanović and Dragan Babić won silver in the C2 race at a World Cup event in 2012 and finished third overall in the standings.
“The only thing I feel I’m missing is a medal from the canoe and kayak world championship. I simply cannot miss the opportunity now that we are finally hosting such a major event here on the Vrbas,” he added.
He emphasized that organizing two major competitions on the Vrbas in such a short time is a huge achievement, made possible by the continuous work of enthusiasts dedicated to wildwater sports, as well as investments by relevant institutions in the Tijesno Canyon and the construction of a course suitable for top-level competitions.
Return of the dajak boat
Kuzmanović and his colleagues from the “Dajak Club,” who have achieved notable results in various rowing disciplines, are credited with reviving the dajak—a unique traditional boat from the Vrbas—which has become one of Banja Luka’s main tourist attractions. However, the club still lacks its own premises.
Members of the “Dajak Club,” who have brought numerous medals to Banja Luka from domestic and international competitions, are appealing to city authorities to provide them with facilities where they can store equipment.
“Every year, we struggle to move and protect our boats during the winter so they don’t deteriorate. Although it was promised long ago, we are still waiting for the construction of club facilities near the dajak dock, where we could finally settle and complete our tourist and sports story,” Kuzmanović said.
He recalled that the club was founded in 2012 by a group of enthusiasts and top athletes, initially to preserve the dajak boat as an important part of the city’s tradition.
“After the war, everything had been destroyed almost completely, and on the Vrbas there were maybe only five functional boats left. For a long time, the situation did not improve,” Kuzmanović said.
The cost of building a boat was too high for most people.
“Now we have more than 10 boats of our own. We are perhaps the number one tourist attraction in the city, alongside rafting. It is well known that every tourist who visits Banja Luka during the season will, after exploring the city, head to the Vrbas—one of the most beautiful rivers in the Balkans,” Kuzmanović concluded.
Source: RTRS
