The ninth Skorpen rafting trip down the Łyna River is over...

…And who was not there, let him regret. That’s a telegraphic summary of the event organised by the Skorpena Academic Diving Club. Our journey to Olsztyn began with small problems with the car, but as the next kilometres passed, it was only getting better. Great weather, a lot of familiar faces and a lot of positive energy floating in the air – all this clearly promised a first-class party.

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Photo gallery no. 1
Photo gallery no. 2

It started as usual with the registration in the headquarters of AKP “Skorpena”, located in DS1 in Olsztyn Kortow. In the car park in front of the building the crowd was getting thicker by the hour and new groups of good old friends were appearing. When the formalities had been enough, the participants headed for the buses that had been provided to take them to the canoeing point – the bridge in Julian Tuwima Street.

Of the 601 participants registered, 453 entered the water this year. Despite the large difference between these numbers, it is still a record result and it keeps up the upward trend! In addition, more and more participants are from abroad, so we can safely say that we are dealing with an event of international rank.

It took about 45 minutes-70 minutes to complete the 3.5km-long route. The finishing line was, as usual, at the St. John’s Bridge in the old town of Olsztyn. The swimmers were greeted by crowds of onlookers, who also accompanied them on the bridges and in various locations during the course. The weather was good that day, but the water was only 3°C. Therefore, for the cold divers, pea soup and hot tea was already prepared.

Skorpenowy Spływowy Łyną (Scorpen’s Rafting on the Łyna) is the biggest diving event in Poland and the second biggest in the world. As the organisers emphasise, this has been achieved thanks to the non-commercial character of the event and the total lack of any divisions into diving federations, organisations and schools.

Among the diving fraternity, as every year, we could admire the enormous creativity and inventiveness, manifested in amazing costumes. There was a yellow submarine (first place, cup and diving machine), a fire engine with crew, a stork, a shoal of amphiprion, a turtle, a paramedic with a patient on a stretcher, superman, and even a breakfast table with a samovar, which came to us from Kalingrad. The mood was good and the divers enjoyed themselves in a wonderful atmosphere, cheered on by the sun.

After returning to the campus, everyone had plenty of time to tidy up, dry off and change clothes. The next part of the canoeing trip took place in the academic restaurant ‘Kuźnia Smaków’, where prizes were drawn, souvenir mugs were handed out and energy was replenished over a hot meal and a beer. To a large extent, the canoeing rally is made up of old friends who take the opportunity to meet together every year, but there is never a shortage of new faces.

A huge bow should be given to sponsors, who, as every year, generously presented the participants with gifts. Among them there were companies such as: Mares, Santi, Kassa, Eques, Amber Diving, Gral Marine, XDeep, Tecline, Technika Podwodna and many, many others. The gesture of all those people allowed for another exciting draw, which, as every year, was an opportunity for incredible fun and salvos of laughter.

The capital of Warmia has something in itself that makes it always nice to return here. The combination of the picturesquely situated Kortów, the hospitality of the people from AKP “Skorpena” and the positive energy emanating from the participants makes the event grow stronger and stronger every year. However, this happens naturally, not forced, and despite its size, there is no mass element known from various festivals and concerts. Let’s keep it up and see you next year!

Source: Divers24, Organiser
Photo: Kinga Romańczuk/Oleckie Stowarzyszenie Nurkowe Amfiprion, Arek “Kassa” Kasjański/Kassa.pl