The Balearic canoeing elite meets in Menorca to celebrate the results of 2024

This Friday, March 7, about 300 people gathered at the Teatre des Born, in Ciutadella, to celebrate the 22nd Balearic Canoeing Gala.

An event, organized by the Balearic Canoeing Federation, in which the achievements and results obtained by 166 paddlers from the Islands during 2024 were awarded, who have shone in local, national, and international competitions.

This past season, Balearic canoeing has conquered many podiums and has won a high number of medals, demonstrating the great potential of the athletes from the Islands as well as the successful work of the coaches and nautical clubs. From the youngest representing the bases of canoeing, to established Olympic participants, the awarded athletes attended this already traditional annual event to receive their recognition accompanied by family, friends, technical teams, and authorities, Juan Carlos Fuentes, president of the Federació Balear de Piragüismo; Juan Manuel Lafuente, conseller de la Mar i del Cicle del Aigua; Pedro Bestard, conseller de Medi Ambient; Antoni Prats, insular director of sports, Conseller de Medi Ambiente, Pedro Bestard; Joan Pons, conseller de Cultura; Rafel Quintana, insular director of Youth; Antoni Estades, president of the Association of Nautical Clubs of the Balearic Islands; Llorenç Ferrer, mayor of Ciutadella; Miquel Ametller, councilor of Sports of Ciutadella, and Daniel Arguimbau from the Fundació Guillem Cifre de Colonya.

During the event, the winners of the Balearic Cup for Young Promises; the Balearic Junior, Senior, and Master Cup; the Balearic Sea Kayak Cup; the Spanish Championship of track and Sea Kayak; as well as international finalists, international medalists, and Olympians were awarded.

Other great protagonists of the evening were the Olympians Joan Antonio Moreno and Marcus Cooper who were recognized for their effort and dedication to reach the highest level of sports, compete in an Olympic Games, and not only that, but to conquer the precious metal in the tracks of Nice, where the last Paris 2024 Games were held. Joan Antoni Moreno has swept his first participation in the Olympics by taking the bronze in C-2 500 meters. “It is hard for me to remember this 2024 season because it has been a season of fulfilling dreams,” Moreno confessed after watching a compilation video of the journey to the Games. An Olympic Games that he has experienced thanks to his references. “Thanks to Sete Benavides I thought I could dream of going to an Olympics and thanks to my coach Kiko Martín I could dream of getting a medal,” he acknowledges adding that “I hope to be able to give you more joy in the coming years and also that many of you give it to us.”

Marcus Cooper, not only has he won his third Olympic medal (bronze in K-4 500 meters), but this time he was also the Spanish Olympic flag bearer, undoubtedly a source of pride for canoeing and for Balearic sports. “This year has been very special for me and it is difficult to express what I felt in that opening carrying the Olympic flag and representing our country,” Cooper expressed recalling his entire sports career and his first Games in Rio and Tokyo. The triple Olympic medalist wanted to encourage young people to stay connected to sports “because it will always be the right path” and he has advanced that “for now I plan to continue in case there was any doubt.”

Among the international achievements, it is worth noting the bronze won by the paddler from Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença, Mary Jane Parry, in the World Marathon Championship in the K-2 mixed veteran +65 category or Marta Noguera, paddler from Club Nàutic Santa Eulalia, who became the European Junior Champion in SS1 in the competition held in the Azores.

As is tradition within the Balearic canoeing family, the Olympians have presented several replicas of their medals. The first to receive it was Kiko Martín, Olympic coach of Joan Antoni Moreno and Diego Domínguez, a pair that won bronze in Paris 2024, and Antía Jocome, who missed out on the medal, but took a double Olympic diploma in these last Games.

In addition, Pere Antoni Nadal, representing the Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença; Juan Manuel Lafuente, conseller de la Mar i del Cicle del Aigua; Pedro Bestard, conseller de Medi Ambient, and Antoni Prats, insular director of sports, also received a replica of the medals from Marcus Cooper and Joan Antoni Moreno.

After reviewing the achievements obtained by Balearic paddlers, the president of the Balearic Canoeing Federation, Juan Carlos Fuentes, recognized that “who was going to tell us a few years ago where we would get, our athletes have spoiled us, it already seems that getting to an Olympic Games is easy and getting a medal I can’t even tell you.” In addition, he wanted to take the opportunity to recognize the great work done by the nautical clubs of the islands. “None of this would be possible without the clubs on which most of the Balearic paddlers depend”.

Continuing with the Olympic paddlers, this gala also served to recognize the sports career of Sete Benavides, who in 2024 ended his career as a High-Level athlete, with a record that includes a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games, in addition to world and European championships. “I want to thank the federation for all the effort it has made to this day, my club, the Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença, without which I could not be here collecting these successes, and my coach Kiko Martín, without you I would not be the person I am today,” declared the paddler who recalling how the first galas were added that “it is a pleasure to see how Balearic canoeing is growing year after year. The second gala was held in a restaurant with few tables and now there are more and more people and more awardees”.

Benavides also wanted to send a message to all young paddlers reminding them that “I was also like them and started by finishing last. But if you set your mind to something, work hard and strive, because you will surely achieve what you want”.