From the Retiro to the Games: the little Madrid canoeists train among the boats on the mythical pond

In El Retiro Park

, this representative enclave of Madrid visited daily by thousands of passers-by from all over the world, the Vallehermoso Retiro Canoeing Club, affiliated to the Federation, has been exercising inside its iconic pond for more than 50 years. Madrid of this sport.

Yes. In that small artificial lake where King Ferdinand VII prepared his

, the future of the sport that

has given our country the

Like, for example, África Ibáñez and Jacobo Robles, a couple of enthusiastic and very young canoeists from Madrid who reflect the illusion of many children who want one day to be able to compete on behalf of their city in national championships, or even represent Spain in World Cups. in any of the modalities of this sport: Kayak and Canoe, and they even dare to dream of being the flag bearers of Spain in some games, as the multi-medalist Saúl Craviotto did in Tokyo 2020.

Trainer Lorena Vinuesa with her paddlers in the El Retiro pond ANTONIO HEREDIA

"We are very excited, although we have to combine

, which makes practice schedules a bit difficult for us. However, despite the little time available and the winter temperatures, we always come here full of excitement to practice what we like the most. passionate", agree Jacobo and África, who have been canoeing for four and two years, respectively.

And it is that the difficulties, as is natural in all sports, are not an exception for the 'paddlers'.

Lorena Vinuesa, the club's coach, knows that her sporting discipline "is not as striking as others, so getting financial support, especially from the private sector, is not easy. Despite this, we have the unconditional support of our federation, which does everything to have future athletes perfectly".

Also, she has a degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, she emphasizes that, despite not being a crowd sport,

"In the municipal school we have more than 60 children between the ages of seven and 18 who come almost every day to train in the park. When they are not here they work out physically in the federation gym."

Canoeists from the Vallehermoso Retiro club training the Kayak PoloANTONIO HEREDIA

In this order, Laura Cuprian, who started canoeing at the age of 14, says that in Madrid "there is no more beautiful place to train", who, like her partner Lucía Riesgo, practices the Kayak modality.

"

, which also, due to its beautiful sunsets, motivates us more to practice despite the cold and the thousands of visitors who decide to take a boat ride and that we must avoid in our training sessions," adds Lucía. .

Several Spanish champions in calm waters have emerged from the Vallermoso Retiro club, with notable results at the international level and in the Olympic cycle, in addition to having had Eduardo Herrero on his technical team, the first coach to achieve a medal for Spain in an Olympic Games , and the 'MVP' of the 2022 world championship in France, Alejandro Gordo, who is also the captain of the Spanish Kayak polo team.

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