A short stretch of choppy water near Dunaremete, a small village in the northwest of Hungary, is at the centre of a slalom movement that is looking to sweep the country.
A 30-minute drive from Dunaremete is Gyor, a city which is renowned for its marathon paddling and will host this year’s International Canoe Federation Canoe Marathon World Championships.
But it is Canoe Slalom that is starting to grow in the Gyor-Moson-Sopron County thanks to the work of Sara Timea Seprenyi.
Canoeing is embedded within the fabric of Hungary, with the country winning more Olympic medals in the sport than any other nation.
But for all Hungary’s formidable Canoe Sprint success, the nation has yet to truly make its mark on the big stage in Canoe Slalom.
This is something which the Hungarian Canoe Federation has tasked Seprenyi to change after being given the responsibility of building the country’s Canoe Slalom programme.
“I have big hopes,” said Seprenyi.
“I’d like to get one Hungarian to the Olympics which we have never managed before.
“It’s a long shot and it’ll be eight to 12 years until we get there.”
Marcel Potocny and Julia Schmid are among those that have come close to becoming the first-ever Hungarian Olympian in Canoe Slalom.
Seprenyi’s own lifelong goal to make the Games was also dashed when she failed to seal a spot at Paris 2024.
But Seprenyi is looking to set the course for the next generation of slalom paddlers to reach the top of the sport.
“I started in sprint as well, but I enjoyed adrenaline sports,” said Seprenyi.
“I did wakeboarding, bungee jumping and parachuting and Canoe Slalom was also on my bucket list.
“Marcel was competing for Hungary so I messaged him on Facebook to see if he was in Hungary and whether I could paddle with him.
“He said I could come to Bratislava where his family runs a club and could try it out there.
“I loved it.
“I trained with Slovenia for about eight years.
“They took me to the races, coached me and even now they are helping me with judging programme, training camps and joining competitions.
“Everyone is so helpful that you want to give back to the sport.
“I am hoping the kids in Hungary will get better chances than I did when I was young.”
It’s with Potocny and his family where Seprenyi first came across Dunaremete and saw the potential to grow Canoe Slalom there.
“When looking for some spots in Hungary to paddle, Marcel’s father and brothers took me around the north of the country where there are some small streams and this place had bigger rapids,” said Seprenyi.
“It’s about 30 kilometres from Gyor and it’s close to the Slovak course at Cunovo so I think the north of Hungary is a region that has good chances in slalom.”
After taking on the role of developing Canoe Slalom in Hungary in February last year, Seprenyi invited youngsters to give the discipline a go on flatwater.
A total of 82 kids participated with the best of those selected to be on Seprenyi’s Canoe Slalom programme in Dunaremete.
“It was interesting to see because most of the kids who we chose didn’t have results on flatwater because they had no intention to paddling long distances,” said Seprenyi.
“They preferred to chase ducks and waves, so we started to work with those kids on the course in Dunaremete.”
Seprenyi is looking to gain Government support to develop the slalom course in Dunaremete and boost participation numbers in Szeged.
The 32-year-old, who was appointed as the Hungarian Canoe Federation’s Slalom Development Coordinator last December, is also aiming to see some of her paddlers compete on the continental stage in 2025.
“I have 11 kids in Gyor and another 21 in Szeged. We had 32 in our first slalom competition in October last year,” said Seprenyi.
“I really want to take a team to Solkan for the Junior and U23 European Championships and the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Skopje.
“I think it’s important that we start somewhere and get more attention so we can find the support to build a bigger course.”
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