Ten Es Nàutic paddlers make their mark at the Spanish Young Promises Championship

The delegation of paddlers from Es Nàutic came close to winning medals in some cases, against a thousand paddlers from across the country. Lara Ribas finished 4th in the Girls' Infantil A category and Júlia Roselló 5th in Girls' Infantil B.

Last weekend, from April 5 to 6, the Spanish Championship for Young Promises, Infantil and Cadete categories, was held at the Castrelo do Miño reservoir (Ourense), in Galicia. A representation of ten paddlers from Club Nàutic Sant Antoni attended, competing at a high level, nearly reaching the medals in some cases.

Notably, Lara Ribas achieved fourth place in the Girls' Infantil A category. She could have reached the podium had it not been for an issue at 300 meters from the start that caused her to lose many positions. In the same final, Gabriela Mendes secured a commendable 7th place, also nearing medal contention. Odalis Posado was 17th and Laura Rubio 22nd. Additionally, in the Girls' Infantil B final, Júlia Roselló achieved an extraordinary 5th place.

Equally positive and unexpected was the performance of the four male paddlers in the infantil category, who after the first day of competition advanced to their respective finals. In the Boys' Infantil B final, Saúl Calderón finished 41st, Henk Brinkman 49th, and Marc Tur 63rd after capsizing at the start. Liam López, likewise, finished 71st in Boys' Infantil A after capsizing midway through the race while in 35th place. All significantly surpassed the club technicians' predictions.

Unfortunately, Toni Llorens, who attended the Spanish Championship with almost guaranteed passage to the Boys' Cadete A final based on his times in previous races and his physical condition, capsized in his qualifying series and was eliminated.

In this Spanish Championship, a total of 1,006 paddlers from 115 clubs nationwide participated, with 75 registered in Girls' Infantil A, 71 in Girls' Infantil B, 150 in Boys' Infantil A, 93 in Boys' Infantil B, and 143 in Boys' Cadete A. The distances were set at 2,000 meters for the qualifying series, rising to 3,000 for the Infantil finals and 5,000 for the Cadetes final. In events with more than 80 entrants, two qualifying series were held, with the top 30 from each series plus the 20 best times advancing to the final. In the club rankings, CNSA placed 30th.