Elisenda Cerdà to receive Timón Canoeing Award after winning seven national gold medals

The canoeist from Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença has won seven gold medals in national competitions in the under-16 category in 2026 and represented Spain at the Olympic Hopes in Bratislava.

Mallorcan canoeist Elisenda Cerdà, from Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença (RCNPP), will receive the 2026 Timón Canoeing Award, presented by Gaceta Náutica in recognition of a season defined by her dominance in national competitions and her international debut with the Spanish team.

Competing in the under-16 category, she has won three gold medals at the Spanish Olympic Sprint Cup, another three at the Spanish Young Talents Championships and a further national title in the C1 5,000-metre long-distance event at the Spanish Young Talents Championships.

At 16, Cerdà has established herself as one of the brightest prospects in Balearic canoeing. Her standout performance on the national circuit came in June at the Spanish Under-16 Olympic Sprint Cup in Verducido, Pontevedra, where she claimed three victories. She won the C1 200 metres and completed her gold medal haul in the C2 500 metres alongside Marina Soares and the C4 500 metres, teaming up with Soares, Ariadna Cañero and Almendra Murga.

In April, she had already won the C1 5,000-metre title at the Spanish Young Talents Championships in Seville. She later added further victories at the Spanish Under-16 Championships, taking gold in the C1 500, C2 500 and C4 500 metres, the latter two alongside her clubmates.

Her international debut came in September, when she was selected to represent Spain at the Olympic Hopes in Bratislava, Slovakia. The competition brings together leading young canoeing prospects from around the world and offers athletes of her age one of their first major opportunities to compete internationally.

Cerdà finished sixth in the C1 200 metres and seventh in the C4 500 metres, two creditable results given that she entered the competition after a throat infection and raced with a fever.

The paddler admits that the standard of her rivals initially felt intimidating. “When I arrived, I was incredibly nervous. You see girls who are much bigger and stronger than you, and it’s daunting,” she recalls. On the start line, however, she tried to put those nerves behind her. “I told myself I had already done everything I could, and whatever happened would happen, because the work was already done.”

Elisenda Cerdà’s canoeing journey began when she was seven. She signed up after her sister, whom she wanted to follow, and discovered a sport that would eventually become central to her life. She had previously played basketball, but her family’s connection to the sea and the club’s proximity helped her take up canoeing.

Nine years later, her routine revolves around training and schoolwork. From Monday to Saturday, she spends approximately two hours a day training, dividing her time between sessions on the water and in the gym. According to her coach, Brigitte Vitte, this level of commitment is unusual among athletes her age.

“It’s hard to find girls with that consistency. Elisenda is very motivated, has a strong character and is a real fighter,” says Vitte, highlighting the young paddler’s determination to keep training even when circumstances are difficult.

For the young paddler, recognition at the Timón Awards is a reward for the effort she has put in throughout the season. “I was really surprised when they told me, but I’m absolutely delighted, because after all the work this year, it makes you feel it has been worthwhile,” she says.

Her ambitions extend beyond the results she has achieved so far. Elisenda Cerdà looks up to her club’s leading paddlers, Sete Benavides and siblings Joan Toni and Àngels Moreno, and hopes to continue progressing internationally. “My dream is to reach the Olympics and, if possible, win a medal,” she says.