Club Marítimo de Mahón gets silver in the Balear Olympic Sprint Balearic Championship

Club Marítimo de Mahón paddlers stand out the doors of the championship in front of Real Club Náutico de Palma full of old glories.

On June 21st the Balear Olympic Sprint Balearic Canoeing Championship took place in the Balearic Canoeing Federation facilities, in s’Estany des Ponts, Alcúdia. Under a suffocating heat, Mahón’s paddlers took part in numerous tests to try to get the title from champion Real club Náutico de Palma, an entity with which a fellowship of clubs exists. The fight for the tile was decided during the last races of the championship, during a morning journey.

Four golds, eleven silvers and thirteen bronzes were the prize for the paddlers of the Marítimo, which gave them a total of 1.221 points. 28 medals which allowed them to face the colossal Palma face to face, but with not a good enough result in front of the 1.285 points of the Mallorcan entity. The third place of the podium by clubs was occupied by the Náutic Sant Antoni de Portmany, giving a really high value to their juveniles.

In the Under23 category, Claudia Vidal was highlighted with various silvers in the 200 metres and 500 metres, which she would repeat alongside Cristina Carreras in the K2 Senior tests of the same distances. On their behalf, the men, an unexpected Mar Camps got a bronze in K1 500 m that tasted like gold after all the tests were disputed as if they were the last.

Veterans of Marítimo did not let down. The section of the Marítimo leaded by David Sánchez achieved seven of the club’s metals, putting the finishing touch to an excellent final of the season. Ulises Luque with two bronzes, culminated an excellent championship in K1; Lluís Sintes and Joan Fábregas did the same in K2, with two more silvers. And, finally, Pili Borrás and Violan Menorca summed two golds, a silver and two bronzes, in an impressive participation in the K1 as well as the K2.

To finish the journey, the strong plate came with tests for the Senior men. In K1 200 m Dion López and Lluís Zardoya were highlighted, silver and bronze respectively, that they decided in a very quick final. On her behalf, Vinca Escandell kept the level with another bronze in the K1 500 m. In the doubles over 200 m, the mythical pair of Escandell and Alexis Capdevila resumed their best version to impose themselves in an adjusted final that went over the last metres on Dion López and Joan Cachot, also from the Marítimo, who touched the gold but were discoordinated in the entry to the target. And, to finish the championship, the most applause and equalized bumped with the K4 500 m, where the fotofinish and a daring arbitrary decision, which avoided the technical tie, decanted the victory for the Mahonese: López, Capdevila, Escandel and Ismael Fuentes achieved gold, silver for Palma and brilliant bronze for the quadruple formed by Mahonese Cordero, Zardoya, Cachot and David Sánchez.

Declarations of Vinca Escandell, technical director of Club Marítimo Mahón: “We are very proud of the carried out championship, our attitude has been excellent. Leaves such as the ones from our internationals, Alma Rabinerson and Raquel Carbajo, cost a high price when winning points. And playing as a visitor in front of a club of the magnitude of Palma, allows them to have the upper hand in terms of participation, a fact that undermines and motivates us at the same time widely for the next one: there will be a rematch.”