The Castores do Arade won the 7th collective place among 40 national clubs, returning to the National Championship of Canoeing Hopes, which took place on Saturday, July 11, at the Centro de Alto Rendimento de Montemor-o-Velho.
The National of Hopes is a competition dedicated to the younger classes of canoeing, aged between 9 and 16 years old. More than 400 athletes entered the competition representing 40 national clubs from north to south of the country.
The male and female Initiates K1 races have a distance of two kilometers, one lap. As for the male and female K1 Children's events, the athletes cover two laps, in a total of four kilometers. In the male and female K1 Cadet competition, the paddlers cover six kilometers, spread over three laps.
Representing themselves by a team of only 18 athletes, the Beavers achieved several individual rankings in the top-10, highlighting the 2nd place medal won by Iara Bebiano, in K1 (individual kayak) for female children “A”, and 6th of the overall ranking.
The rankings among the top 10 are also highlighted, with Ianis Bebiano reaching 5th place in K1 initiated, Clélia Santos also in 5th place, in K1 female initiated, Rúben Luís in 8th K1 for children, Filipe Libório also in 8th in K1 cadet, and, very close to the top-10, Leonor Ramos finished in 11th place, in K1 for children.
Test with strong security measures
Marked by strict safety measures, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the High Performance Center saw only the titles awarded on individual vessels (K1 and C1), since, given the safety distance determined by the General Directorate of Health, it is not possible to carry out tests on two-seater boats of K2 and C2.
The races were also limited to the participation of 65 national athletes per level and 400 athletes in total.
The number of entries exceeded this limit by about 200 athletes, with the children's division, with around 150 registered athletes, being the most affected, as «60% of the athletes were unable to participate in the competition», explains the Lagoa club
«Our athlete Filipe Busel had to stay out of the competition, despite being one of the children A with chances of getting in the first places», added the Castores do Arade.
The competition was divided into two blocks of 200 athletes, with all the cleaning between competitions.
«The Portuguese Canoeing Federation is to be congratulated for allowing the return of competitions at this difficult time, making a difference, compared to other sports that canceled most of the competitions at the training levels», emphasize the Beavers.
Limited access and live streaming
The competition took place behind closed doors, as a result of the limitations imposed by the pandemic, only canoe agents being allowed to enter the High Performance Center of Montemor-o-Velho.
However, the Portuguese Canoeing Federation provided live broadcasting of the competition through its youtube channel, allowing supporters of the sport and the young athletes' relatives and friends to follow the competition from a distance.
Full ratings:
K1 children's female – 65 athletes in competition
6th Iara Bebiano (2nd sub-category “A”)
11th Eleanor Ramos
18th Iris Rietkerk (8th sub-category “A”)
19th Isabella Wilkinson
24th Maria Wilkinson
25th Inês Carapinha
39th Maria Costa
K1 female cadet – 39 athletes competing
24th Inês Luís (at start-up turned the vessel and regained 14 positions)
K1 Children – 65 athletes competing
8th Ruben Luís
K1 Cadet – 65 athletes competing
8th Filipe Libório
16th Bernardo Verdades
20th Rodrigo Gabriel (1st year cadet athlete)
K1 started – 65 athletes competing
5th Ianis Bebian
27th Dinis Carrasco
K1 female initiate – 48 athletes competing
5th Clelia Santos
18th Leonor Silva de Matos
28th Julia Luís
30th Lara Carapinha
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