Balearic technification, key to the success of national canoeing

The Olympic year is just a few days away, an essential year for many athletes, including those from the Balearic Islands, who have spent years preparing and fighting to be the best in each of their disciplines in order to represent Spain at the Olympic Games. But in this long-distance race, only a few manage to cross the finish line and become Olympians.

The Balearic Islands is a cradle of Olympians and not only of representatives, but also of medallists. Proof of this are the medals won by paddlers Marcus Cooper and Sete Benavides at the Olympic Games in London, Rio and Tokyo. In 2024, it will be the courses of Paris where the dream Olympic medals will be up for grabs.

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The long awaited Canoe Technification Centre of the Balearic Islands

It takes a lot of effort, sacrifice, passion and, above all, an excellent technical team. The canoeists who train at the Centro de Tecnificación de Piragüismo de Baleares know this very well, a center where the great references of Spanish canoeing are currently being trained.

The Pasión por el Mar team was able to visit these facilities yesterday, together with the Director General of Sports of the Balearic Government, Joan Antoni Ramonell; the Mayoress of Alcudia, Fina Linares; the Councillor for Sports of the Alcudia Town Council, Veronica Caro; the President of the Balearic Canoeing Federation, Juan Carlos Fuentes and the Technical Director and Manager of the Balearic Canoeing Federation, Xavi Marroig.

This center has not always been located within walking distance of Lake Esperanza in Alcudia, "we were many years in the Hotel Boccaccio to which I will always be grateful and then we came to these facilities" explains the president of the Balearic Canoe Federation, Juan Carlos Fuentes.

Currently the canoeists of the Centro de Tecnificación Balear, and the national canoe team train in their new facilities, with two hangars where they keep all the material, including canoes and canoes, as well as a gym, portable toilets and showers with hot water in the backyard, but the most important thing is that they have direct access to the lake with its 9 lanes training track. "We have been working both here and on the track, we have been setting up the lanes, little by little so that each time it is more similar to what we are going to find at national level and so we can work better," acknowledges Fuentes.

The Federation team has worked hard to ensure that the canoeists have a place where they can prepare for national and international competitions and where they can practice the sport they are passionate about. A work that will continue over the coming years, as there is a project to improve the Technification Centre, as confirmed by the Director General of Sports of the Balearic Government, Joan Antoni Ramonell, "the successes have come before the improvements that we want to introduce in the coming years".

Preparing the present and future of national canoeing

The Balearic Canoe Federation has already achieved great international milestones, thanks to its perseverance and dedication. For this reason, not only the Balearic canoeists train in these facilities, but also the national canoe team. "To have the national canoe team training here is a source of pride for us," says the president of the Federation.  

The members of the national team live in chalets attached to the Centro de Tecnificación. In this way, they have the advantage of being just a stone's throw away from the training sessions. "When I talk to them, they tell me that they are delighted. In fact, many of them tell me that they don't want to leave," Fuentes confesses. "When they try it, they all want to come," adds the technical director and manager of the Balearic Canoe Federation, Xavi Marroig.

Kiko Martín, recently awarded as the best national canoeing coach of the year, is the coach of the national team, as well as the Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença, "we have Kiko Martín who is an exceptional coach, both as a coach and as a person" assures the president of the Federation.

A revolutionary software to improve paddling

Thanks to the involvement of the technical team, the Balearic Canoe Federation has become a national and even international reference. "When I spoke to someone from the Catalan Federation, they told me that a lot of years ago you wanted to come to Catalonia to learn and now we want to come to the Balearic Islands to learn," says the president of the Federation.

In addition to investing in improving the facilities, the Federation has also invested in R&D with the creation of Canoe Data Analytics, a software created by two technicians from the Balearic Islands Sports Technification Centre (CTEIB), Toni Anglada and Jaume Mestre, which analyzes the data of the canoeists during training sessions and competitions. "It is a commitment made by the federation together with the Balearic Sports Foundation, as the main objective of a technification center is to evolve and improve," explains Marroig.

With this programme we carry out telemetry and data analysis to know in real time the speed of the canoeists and the number of strokes they make. A system that has become a national and even international benchmark. "The Germans come to see what we do," confesses Marroig.

Training the best canoeists in the Balearic Islands

Thanks to the training programme of the Centro de tecnificación deportiva Islas Baleares (CTEIB), the islands' top athletes can combine their studies with their training. "The advantage of the technification programme that we have here in the Balearic Islands, which we do with the Balearic Sports Foundation, is that we have a special study timetable", assures the Federation's manager.

A timetable that is followed to the letter and as precisely as possible. In this way, the paddlers start classes in Palma at eight in the morning and then take a morning break at 10:45am to train in Alcudia for a couple of hours. "They do a short warm-up, then change and go on the water. They spend an hour in the water and then go back to stretching," explains Marroig.

At 15h they go back to class until 17h when they have another training session in Alcudia. "They eat quickly, sometimes they have to eat in the van because they don't have time to eat here and get to school," confesses Marroig. The Pasión por el Mar team has witnessed the daily sacrifice made by these young athletes to be among the elite of world canoeing.