The student paddlers striving to put UAE on world kayaking map

The Emirates Canoe and Rafting Federation is made up of competitors from around the globe but is hoping to develop the sport among young UAE nationals

Balasz Bartfai out on the water at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Coaxing a teenager to get up in time for school can often be a fraught business. So consider the case of the small group of adolescents who are hoping to put the UAE on the map of global kayaking while also pursuing their studies.

Balasz Bartfai became the first UAE representative at an international canoeing competition last September when he raced at the junior World Championships in Hungary, aged just 16.

To be ready to compete at that level, he is on the water at Dubai Offshore Sailing Club for 6am most mornings of the week, meaning waking before sunrise.

“I get up at 4.30am or 5am,” Bartfai, now 17, said. “Waking up at that time isn’t the best feeling but when I get down here and start paddling it feels good. If I get enough sleep I am energised for school, too, because training wakes me up.”

It helps having a like-minded schoolmate along for company. Fraser Hallatt, a fellow pupil at Kent College in Dubai, is a teammate of Bartfai’s and is targeting appearances on canoeing’s world stage in Italy and Hungary later this summer.

He dovetails training with studying for his final year of A-levels, but rather than find the workload a grind, he says it is inspiring.

“The view in the morning is beautiful,” Hallatt said of the 6am training sessions on the Arabian Gulf. “Seeing the sunrise through the Burj Khalifa is the best thing. Not everybody gets that opportunity.”

The two schoolmates are the youngest members of the elite core of paddlers who represent the Emirates Canoe and Rafting Federation.

Theirs is a multicultural team. Bartfai was born in Hungary, and Hallatt in Scotland, while there are also paddlers from as far afield as Portugal, Brazil and Russia.

Mike Ballard, the para-athlete who is based in Dubai but represents United States in international kayaking events, also trains with the UAE team at DOSC.

International Canoe Federation rules permit residents of a country to compete in their events. Events such as the Asian Games and the Olympics are restricted to nationals.

The UAE team does not have any Emirati paddlers competing at the elite level as yet, but the Emirates Canoe and Rafting Federation are hoping to develop the sport among UAE nationals.

That was what prompted them, earlier this year, to employ a new coach from Hungary, which is one of the leading nations for the sport of sprint kayaking.

Daniel Madar, 22, arrived in Dubai in January. He is coaching the UAE team while completing a degree in recreational sport and health management.

He says the culture for the sport here differs vastly from that of his homeland, and it has taken some getting used to.

“It is completely different,” Madar said. “The nature, the people, the vibe, everything is different. I really like it.

“It is a good thing these guys can compete internationally. In Hungary it would be hard to get to national team level.

“What I do miss from Hungary is the paddling culture. Every single club is like a huge family. There are so many kids. They spend their days and nights at the club.

“Here in Dubai kids can do so many different things. In Hungary, kids are usually only focused on one sport.

“In Hungary, if I say a kid needs to do six sessions per week, every afternoon, two hours per session, the parents are like: ‘No problem, I can bring the kid there’.

“Here, even the best guys have barely any time to train. There they can train more hours per day, and that makes a big difference.

“We need to make sure we have time not just to train, but also be as a community, and make friendships. That is one big difference between here and Hungary.”

The development of the sport in the UAE is being driven by another Hungarian of great repute in kayaking.

Krisztian Bartfai, who works as a pilot for Emirates Airline, is a three-time world champion in sprint kayaking who also went to three Olympics, taking a bronze medal at Sydney in 2000.

He remains Hungary’s youngest Olympian in kayaking, having competed at Barcelona aged 18.

He hopes to transpose some of the culture for the sport in his homeland to the waters of the UAE.

“It is not just kayaking. In water polo and swimming we are also very strong,” said Krisztian Bartfai, who is Balasz’s father.

“We have lots of water, and swimming, kayaking and water polo are very strong in schools.

“When you go to school, PE classes are often on the water, and so selection and recruitment starts very early.

“You have 5, 6, 7-year-old kids who are starting to paddle. That is how I got into it.”

And, although paddlers compete individually in their 10kg racing boats, Bartfai Sr says being part of a team is the most enticing part of kayaking.

“It is about being with all your friends and teammates,” he said of his own start in the sport. “Before the session you are all playing football. Then after the session you go home together, all on your bikes, chatting together.

“That is why Hungary is strong, because it is about the team effort. It is an individual sport, but a team effort.”