POLLENÇA_16_INTERIOR.qxp 04/08/2009 15:57 Página 66
CANOEING
66
Marry Parry wins an important Silver Medal in the Lugo Marathon
was in our favour. No wind and good results. But, to end the celebration, the bad weather came back again and the scheduled barbecue could not be held. All the participants were very happy with the welcome that this great club gave to them and their final words were that they were coming back next year for this event. Many of the inhabitants of Pollensa took part, as almost a thousand people came to the club to be able to enjoy the canoeing spectacle. The time for the first race came and the children’s B paddler, Thalia Andrés, entertained us with a very well deserved second place that was hard fought up to the last turn. We had started to have a good taste in our mouths. After that, the canoe class set off. Our canoeist, Rogelio Figueiras, started out in first place but after a few metres he was hit on the bow and turned over. In spite of this, he managed to recover and again took over first place. His bad luck did not end there because he missed a turn at a buoy and had to turn back to go around it. However, he recovered and finished in third place. At last, the most hard fought category arrived, in which our paddler, Victoria Benavides, was taking part. She started out like a flash of lightning and held first place from start to finish, without giving any other kayak a chance to get in front of her. Everything ended better than expected.
T
We brought back three medals from Murcia
Poland or the World Championship were competing. Our canoeist Alfonso Benavides López de Ayala set out as favourite for a medal and classification in the championships. And at last he made it, obtaining a well-deserved bronze in the 500m, Olympic distance. It was hard but all that work was nothing alongside being selected to represent Spain in the Euro and World Championships. He has travelled with us from Galicia to spend a few days training in our club until Friday 3rd July, when he will leave for Pontevedra where he must get together with the Spanish selection until the middle of July. On those dates he will travel to Poznan (Polonia) and after that competition will move on to training in Russia and preparing for the World Championship. And not only has this happened to us, but Marry Parry has also classified for the European in Poland and the World Championship in Crestuma in Portugal. These achievements are the first by canoeists from the Balearics. All of this has been possible thanks to the great work that has united sportsmen and trainers, and the unconditional support of this great club which is making history in Balearic canoeing.
he Spanish marathon championship was held last week in Lugo, with distances ranging from 13 km up to 33 km for the seniors. In the 23 km distance, our master canoeist, Marry Parry, took second place, just behind the world champion. This qualifies her for the European championships that will be held in Poland and the world championships in Portugal, with a number of possibilities for medals based on her time in this event.
Great success for the Pollença Area Regatta: mission accomplished
M
ission accomplished: the regatta that held in April for the canoeing Promotion Cup and organized by the RCNPP was a success. Although in the morning the wind did not permit us to train as we would have liked, when the time for the regatta arrived, everything
T
he RCNPPP took three medals in the children’s regatta in Murcia that was held in May off Mar Menor (Santiago de la Rivera). More than 100 paddlers attended. Victoria Benavides reconfirmed her current first place by again coming first in her category without giving any opportunity to the paddler who came in second. Thalia Andrés took third place but could not improve on her previous position because of a bad start. After winning the bronze medal at the previous regatta, Rogelio Figueiras offered no quarter to his rivals, since he arrived at the finish 40 seconds ahead of his second place rival. With these excellent results, the RCNPP children’s team has reaffirmed that it is one of the best in Spain. The regatta was held on a beautiful day, with no wind and great expectations. Reial Club Nàutic
Benavides brought back the bronze for Junior Canoe from Trasona
T
hree paddlers from the R.C.N. Palma-La Caixa, two from the R.C.N. Portopetro and one from the R.C.N. Port de Pollença managed to secure a place on the podium in the 1,000 metres Copa de España. This was the first heat in the National Canoeing League to be held over an Olympic distance. The regattas were held on a weekend in April at the facilities of the High Performance Centre on the Trasona reservoir in Asturias, with uninterrupted racing from Saturday morning to Sunday noon. In the toughest category of all, Alfonso Benavides, who is from the R.C.N. Port de Pollença, belongs to the CTEIB and is also a member of the national team, took the bronze medal in the Junior Canoe category. He came within a thousand of a second of getting the silver medal, and the decision had to be made using the video of the finish as both competitors arrived at the same time.
Marry Parry got the Gold in Seville
T
he part played by the paddlers from the RCNPP in the Spanish Championship held this weekend on the River Guadalquivir in Seville must be considered to be excellent. The competition, which was held on Saturday and Sunday, had more than 601 paddlers from 95 clubs all over Spain taking part. After several weeks of preparation, 21st March arrived so that we could know where we stood. The veteran canoeist Marry Parry was proclaimed Spanish champion as there was a great gap between her and the second place and the rest of the competitors. At no time did she allow anyone to come abreast of her and she arrived at the finish line alone, letting the rest know that she is undoubtedly the best there is in Spain. Another well deserved place went to Alfonso Benavides, whom we were expecting to win a medal but, when a paddler from another team made him turn over, he lost all possibility of a place on the podium. After this came one of our greatest successes; this was an eighteenth place for Marc Manning, a paddler from our club, who, despite being a first year junior and competing against the entire Spanish junior selection, managed to take this well
Port de Pollença
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com