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Darko Savić and his 500 km challenge

Darko Savić and his 500 km challenge 23.12.2018

Bosnian kayaker Darko Savić, who was recently named best sportsman of Republika Srpska (one of two constitutional and legal entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) in the year 2018, took on a special challenge. Together with a colleague he paddled the 500 kilometres between his hometown Banja Luka and Serbian capital Belgrade.


“The idea was born already in our youth. My friend Saša Babić and I have dreamed about this for a long time, but never took it seriously until now. We have prepared for some time, we paddled as usual and had one or two longer trainings each week, we paddled about 50 kilometres. We needed to plan the logistics which is necessary for a project like this. We arranged everything, including crossing the border, with port authorities and we carried our passports in boats,” explained Darko Savić.
 
 
The project ran as planned, but Savić pointed out it was difficult and challenging as they started paddling at 6 in the morning and paddled until 7.30 in the afternoon each day. It took them almost 500 kilometres and four days of paddling to reach Belgrade.

 

 

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“On the first day we paddled 120 kilometres between Banja Luka and Brod, on the second day we paddled 140 kilometres from Brod to Brčko. On the third day we paddled from Brčko to Šabac which is another 120 kilometres, and on the final day we travelled 110 kilometres from Šabac to Belgrade. In each of those towns we were guests of our canoeing friends. This was really special for me as each of them wanted to contribute to our challenge,” added Savić.

 

 

 

“Scenes we have witnessed during our trip were amazing. Sunrise and sunset were unreal and unforgettable. I have seen many things you can only see from the boat as it is impossible to reach them by land. When we came to Belgrade the feeling is indescribable. Not for a moment we thought about quitting, we had a very strong will to reach the goal. When we saw the buildings all the fatigue was gone. I had a feeling I could paddle more. This is a great and unforgettable life experience,” concluded 27-year-old paddler.

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