Filip Dvorak grew up catching crayfish in the crystal-clear waters of Racice. This week he'll be competing on the same water in the 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. In the first part of an occasional blog, Filip introduces us to the venue and gives tips on where you can quench your hard-earned thirst...
Račice, a small village in the heart of the Czech Republic, will become the home for the canoe and kayak World Championship this upcoming weekend. For most of the Czech paddlers, Račice is the second home already, because we spend quite a lot of time here. In the following few paragraphs I would like to share some personal experience i have with this place and maybe give you some tips about interesting places.
When I take a look back and search through my memories, the first thing I recall about Račice is me catching crayfish. It was some 20 years ago and the water in the lake use to be so clear, you could see the rock bottom on many places and the crayfish use to live there and hide under the rocks. Me and my friends use to turn the rocks upside down, catch the crayfish and store them in cut-in-half plastic bottles. We were having fun here as kids and now we are having fun here as adults racing on the World Championship.
Picture: Račice venue
But Račice is not only the racing venue. There is a place that can be quite useful if you get hungry or thirsty, a small convenience store located near the entrance to the venue. It stands there as long as I can remember. It`s called "Old Man`s“ (in Czech „U Dědka“) and I remember eating donuts as my pre-race breakfast as a kid in there some 17 years ago.
Picture: U Dědka concenience store
Another interesting place, that might attract especially coaches and athletes whose racing is done, is the pub that stands on the long stretch before you take the final left hand turn towards the racing venue. The pub is called "Ráče u Čápa“. It`s nothing fancy, but it`s the place to go if you are in need for a beer.
The place is run by Petr "Čáp“ Procházka, legendary former world class padler, multiple World Champion and one of the co-founders of dragonboating in the Czech Republic. If you go there you will definitely meet him and if you will be lucky enough, or maybe stay long enough you may even see him playing his famous trumpet solo.
Picture: Ráče U Čápa
I hope you all are going to enjoy the racing and the atmosphere in Račice and if you`ll have a moment, take a walk around the village and stop by for some snack and beer in U Dědka or in Ráče U Čápa.