Balearic Islands represented at the Olympic Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Poznan

From August 26th through Sunday, August 30th, the Olympic Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships will take place at the regatta course in Poznan, Poland. The event is hugely important for Spanish canoeing, not only because of the World Championships themselves, but also because it is the final event of the season counting towards the Olympic ranking, the new qualification points system for the Los Angeles Games, with the Polish event marking the fourth competition in the series.

Spain will compete at the championships with 33 Sprint athletes and nine Paracanoe athletes, who will be aiming to produce their best performances and surpass the eight medals won at last year’s World Championships, held at Milan’s Idroscalo Park.

Among the 33 athletes representing Spain in the competition, the Balearic contingent includes Marcus Cooper Walz, from Reial Club Nautic Portopetro; Àngels Moreno Bennassar, from Reial Club Nautic Port de Pollença; and Adrián Castaño Forteza and Àlex Graneri Larrea, both from Real Club Náutico de Palma.

The squad selected by the Technical Department of the Royal Spanish Canoeing Federation includes all the paddlers who earned their places through their results and the selection trials held throughout the season.

The first Spanish athlete to compete will be Pablo Crespo (Club Fluvial de Lugo) in the C1 1000. He will be followed by the K4 500 crews, beginning with the men: Adrian Del Rio Casarrubios (Club Escuela Piragüismo Aranjuez), Carlos Arévalo (Club Fluvial de Lugo), Marcus Cooper Walz, from Reial Club Nautic Portopetro, and Rodrigo Germade Barreiro (Club Fluvial de Lugo). The women will then defend the world title they won last year with Sara Ouzande Iturralde (Club Los Delfines de Ceuta), Lucia Val Cerdeira (Club Piragüismo Rias Baixas-Boiro), Daniela Garcia Heredia (Club Deportivo Piraguismo Tartessos Huelva) and Barbara Pardo Mas (Peña Piragüista Antella).

Next into action will be Àngels Moreno Bennassar, from Reial Club Nautic Port de Pollença, and Viktoria Yarchevska (Asociación Deportiva Pinatarense) in the C2 500, followed by the first Paracanoe events of the championships. Adrián Castaño Forteza, from Real Club Náutico de Palma, will compete in the KL1 200.

The morning session on the opening day will conclude with the C1 200 heats, featuring Pablo Graña (Real Club Náutico Rodeira de Cangas), the K1 200 with Carlos Arévalo, and the K1 1000 with Laia Pelachs I Masanas (Club Natació Banyoles).

During the afternoon session on August 26, Claudia Couto (Club Kayak Tudense) and Diego Domínguez (Club Fluvial de Lugo) will compete in the C1 500 qualifiers, while Carolina García (Club Fluvial de Lugo) and Francisco Cubelos (Club Fluvial de Lugo) will race in the K1 500 and K1 1000 respectively. Àngels Moreno Bennassar and Viktoria Yarchevska will round off the Sprint programme in the C2 200.

The day will then conclude with the Paracanoe programme. Carlota Blanca Romero (Club Náutico Sevilla) and Inés María Felipe Vidigal (Club Piragüismo Badajoz) will compete in the KL2 200, Araceli Menduiña Santomé (Club de Mar Ria de Aldán-Gandón SA) in the KL3 200, while the men’s Va’a events will feature Higinio Rivero Fernandez (Club Plentzia Piragua Taldea) in the VL2 200 and Adrián Mosquera Rial (Club Piragüismo Rias Baixas-Boiro) in the VL3 200.

On the second day of competition at the Poznan World Championships, the women’s K1 200 and C1 200 events will open the programme. Antía Jácome (Club Náutico de Sevilla) will attempt to qualify for the canoe semifinals, while Sara Ouzande will be aiming to do the same in the kayak.

The morning session will conclude with the K1 500 heats featuring Àlex Graneri Larrea, from Real Club Náutico de Palma, as well as the K2 and C2 500-metre heats. In the women’s K2, Estefanía Fernández González (Club Fluvial de Lugo) and Begoña Lazkano Guimerans (Club Donostia Kayak Ke) will compete, while Enrique Adán Hernández (Club Escuela Piragüismo Aranjuez) and Carlos García Ruiz (Club Piragüismo Verducido Pontillón) will race in the men’s event. In the men’s C2 500, Daniel Grijalba Guerrero (Club Escuela Piragüismo Aranjuez) and Adrian Sieiro Barreiro (Club Náutico O Muiño de Ribadumia) will fight for direct qualification to the final.

Various semifinal rounds will take place in the afternoon. In Paracanoe, Carlota Blanca Romero and Inés María Felipe Vidigal will return to the course in the VL2, while María Jiménez Toro (Club Fluvial de Lugo) will make her debut in the VL3. They will be followed by Jose Javier Piñeiro Budiño (Club de Mar Ria de Aldan-Gandon SA) in the KL2 200 and Juan Antonio Valle Gallardo (Club Polideportivo Iuxtanam Merida) in the KL3 200.

On Saturday, August 29, the men’s C4 500 final will be held in the afternoon, with Cayetano Garcia de la Borbolla Yaque (Club Náutico Sevilla), Pablo Martinez Estevez (Club Náutico Sevilla), Manuel Fontan Señorans (Club Náutico O Muiño de Ribadumia) and Diego Domínguez making up the crew.

The women’s final will take place on Sunday, ahead of the 5,000-metre finals. The women’s C4 crew will consist of Antía Jácome, Claudia Couto, Elena Gomez-Millan Herrero (Club Náutico Sevilla) and Ana Cantero Herrera (SD del Círculo Mercantil e Industrial de Sevilla).

The championships will conclude with the long-distance portage races, featuring Javier Lopez Gonzalez (Club Jaire Aventura Los Rápidos de Arriondas) and Estefanía Fernández in the K1 5000, and Jaime Duro Pichel (Club Fluvial de Lugo) and Nerea Novo Romero (Club Nautico Pontecesures) in the C1 5000.