Unrivaled Kayak-Canoe Academy Inaugurated near Lake Velence

It took less than three years to build the Kovács Katalin National Kayak-Canoe Academy in Sukoró, Fejér County, central Hungary, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In addition to the politician, the opening ceremony was also attended by Katalin Kovács, the three-time Olympic champion, 31-time world champion, and 29-time European champion who gave the academy her name.

The realization of the Kovács Katalin National Kayak-Canoe Academy near Lake Velence was decided by the government in the second half of 2020, with the investment being built with central budget support. The facility is maintained by the National Sports Infrastructure Agency. The construction works based on the plans of the Kossuth and Ybl prize-winning architect Attila Turi and Planbau, and started in the fall of 2021 on the site of the kayak-canoe and rowing course in Sukoró.

With the main academic building, the boathouse building, serving as a kayak-canoe center, the world’s first counter-current swimming pool, the sports complex covers an area of more than 20,000 square meters.

The various parts of the building can be accessed separately and freely: the 50-meter sports pool with 10 lanes according to World Aquatics (formerly FINA) standards (with warm-up room and training pool); the multifunctional sports hall with a special roof construction, in which basketball, handball, volleyball, futsal, and thanks to the 30-meter-wide bouldering walls, climbing can also be practiced.

The complex also includes three gyms, a state-of-the-art sports diagnostics department, a 240-seat restaurant, a 240-seat conference room and three wings with dormitories, training camp rooms, and apartments.

It also houses Hungary’s first altitude training system, simulating high-altitude conditions for all athletes using the method of the Finnish Hypoxico Group.

The Kovács Katalin National Kayak-Canoe Academy is the first sports facility in the world to have an altitude training system and a counter-current swimming pool on the same premises.

In parallel with the investment of the facility, the academy also began its work in 2021. The sports organization now offers sports to over 200 children and is supported by Emese Kőhalmi, seven-time adult world champion, and the eternal champion of Hungarian kayak canoeing, along with Sára Fojt, two-time bronze medalist of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

At the opening ceremony of the complex, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasized the need to keep up with the world’s best, not only on the pitch, not only on the water, but also in terms of training and the quality of the sports facilities. Great things await Hungarians in the coming years, and the sport of kayaking and canoeing must also return to the top of the world rankings, underlined the politician.

In her speech, Katalin Kovács pointed out that the academy’s goals are manifold. They want to support elite sport, especially kayaking and canoeing, but they also want to work with secondary schools and universities and constantly promote the sport, having already started kayaking and canoeing classes in several elementary school. “Our goal is to make the facility a stronghold of Hungarian kayaking and canoeing as well as Hungarian sports, and we also want to be the home of community sports in the region and the whole country,” emphasized the academy’s namesake.

Via MTI; Featured image via MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd