The 31st World Gliding Championships for 15m/18m and Open Class are officially open!

The complete Canadian Team from left to right: Pim from Holland, OX crew; George Eckschmiedt from Vancouver, our Hungarian voice; yours truly; Diane from Mississauga, OX crew; Willem from SOSA, OX; Dave from SOSA, PS; Virginia from Waterloo, crewing for Dave, Jerzy from SOSA, XG and Maria his wife and devoted crew.

Looks like everyone had good fun at the opening ceremony in Szeged. The teams assembled in a lovely historic downtown square with their national flags and team uniforms. It provided a great opportunity to get to know the other teams.

I believe we looked pretty sharp in our white shirts featuring the timeless winged maple leaf team logo, Jim Carpenter designed so many years ago.


Eventually, the procession got underway, cheered on by local members of the public who had come out in great numbers to welcome the teams of 35 nations to Szeged.

We marched about a kilometer through the downtown and assembled at a park where we were welcomed by local dignitaries and the president of the FAI declared the championships officially open.

Photos by Maria Szemplinska