Watersports blog

The United States Coast Guard has reportedly rescued a French kayaker in Bering Sea near the Alaskan peninsula following a distress call made by him on Saturday.

The authorities used the Coast Guard helicopter to rescue Jean-Gabriel Chelala, who was aiming to create a world kayaking record for circumnavigating the globe through the aforementioned sport.

Chelala was forced to contact the authorities on Saturday after he encountered rough waters for several days which sapped of his energy. He said that he became just too weak to continue kayaking due to the challenging currents the past few days.

The helicopter took Chelala from the St. Lawrence Island coast to Nome. The kayak gear and boat were abandoned by the authorities as they prioritized the health of the kayaker, who was treated for mild hypothermia.

The 28-year old kayaker attempted to circle the globe through kayaking and bicycling. In January 2008, he left his home country by bike then kayaked to Florida via the Atlantic Ocean. From the southern US State, Chelala pedaled his way up to Alaska to start the kayaking stunt once more. These information were relayed by the kayaker himself on his official website.

Yang Wenjun, an Olympic canoeing champion, proved that he’s the best in the sport by clinching three titles at the qualifiers event of the 11th Chinese National Games Canoe and Kayak on Friday, June 26.

Yang dominated the men’s individual 500 meters event by clocking in one minute, 50.95 seconds to edge out Fujian’s Huang Shaokun and Beijing’s Mao Xiaojie who clocked one minute, 52.14 seconds and one minute, 53.74 seconds respectively.

Later in the day, the Olympian and his partner Zhang Zhiwu won the men’s doubles 500 meters event by clocking in one minute, 39.43 seconds. In second place were Guangdong’s Huang Maoxing and Li Qiang. Settling for third were Shandong’s Zhao Jian and Xia Zhigang. His third title was the men’s individual 1,000 meters event which took place last Thursday.

Despite all of these accolades, the Chinese Olympian said that this is just a beginning since the main show happens in October where the National Games officially begin. The canoeing event was attended by more than 400 athletes comprising 22 teams across China. Fifteen teams from each event will battle for glory at the 11th National Games in China later this year.