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The word cast – to throw - describes this, to many people unknown sport, that probably will be an Olympic discipline shortly. Precision and mental strength are decisive factors for success in this interesting sport.
An old yet unknown tradition. Casting is to many people an unknown sport, despite the fact, that it is over a 100 years old. The word cast – to throw - describes this competition, where you compete in 9 different categories in either distance or accuracy.
It has its origin in England and the USA, and in 1881 the first competition in this sport, as it is known today, was held in London. It quickly spread all over the World, and today it is performed in over 30 countries and is especially big in Germany and the Czech Republic. Due to the lack of specific rules, many different variants of the sport appeared, until 14 countries in 1955 formed the International Casting Federation (ICF), which unified the rules for the sport.
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The development of the sport
Even though the goal is not to catch anything in this sport, all the categories have their origin in fishing. Up until the 1970’s it was performed in water, but then the sport was moved to dry land. At the moment they are trying to make casting a discipline at the Olympic Games. The sport is recognized by the Olympic committee, but for the sport to be in the Olympic Games the number of disciplines has to be reduced and the casting sport must be united in a World Federation. Since 1957 a World Championship in casting has been celebrated every second year, and in 1981 it became part of the International World Games programme, which equal to the Olympic Games is held every four years.
The world record holder in the discipline fly distance, Jan Luxa from the Czech Republic, managed in 2001 to throw this lightweight animal over 70 meters with one hand!
The equipment for casting consists of a rod; in most cases a fishing rod, and either flies, spinners or multipliers. Casting enthusiasts are starting to use specially designed rods, which are stronger than regular fishing rods, but to learn the techniques in the precision part of this sport, regular fishing equipment is the ideal to use. But it is not just fishing enthusiasts who perform this sport. It requires mental strength and many training hours if you want to succeed and become good at this technical demanding sport.
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Training camp at Club La Santa
The Swedish Casting Federation, with Henrik Österberg in front, had a training camp at Club La Santa in December 2009. They enjoyed the facilities, and especially the athletics stadium, where in pleasant temperatures, they found the ideal place to practice precision as well as distance casting. They already plan to come back in 2010. |
