’15 years ago, few people knew us apart from rowing, but today look at us’

If walking allows all kinds of wordplay, canoeing is no less so. The original adjectives for a sport that He never stops giving Spain “medals by the shovelful”. At the Games, of course, but also at World Championships, European Championships and World Cups. Without the strength nor the concept of “state sport” that exists in Germany or Hungary, Spain has been among the elite for yearsso much so that forecasts suggest an ambitious horizon of five medals in Paris 2024.

“But it wasn’t always like this,” he confesses to The HuffPost Francisco ‘Paco’ Cubelosone of the members of the selection in this historical period. Statistics show that the Canoeing is the sport that has won the second most medals at the Summer Gameswith 20, only behind sailing (21) and clearly ahead of disciplines as ‘ours’ as athletics or cycling. It comes from afar, but with an asterisk. Because canoeing gave moments of glory in Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 or Los Angeles 1984, but Two decades would pass until another Spanish canoe again appeared on an Olympic podium.

Was in 2004, with David Cal as a reference“He paved the way for us in the elite” recently acknowledged Maialen Chourraut, another of the greats. From AthensSpanish canoeing has not ceased to be a reference, with at least two medals per Games. Cal and his five medals, but also many others. For example, Saúl Craviotto, who hopes to ‘break the tie’ with the Galician and become the most Spanish Olympic medallist with six. He could achieve this in a K4-500 high-flyingnext to flag bearer Marcus Cooper, Carlos Arévalo and Rodrigo Germade. A conquest that “does not obsess me… even though I walk with a knife between my teeth,” as he pointed out to this medium..

Taking advantage of the call from Paris, he and others great athletes and technical managers of the team have wanted to analyze the why endless success of a sport that Fight against the term “minority”relying on its growing media strength that goes beyond Craviotto and its viral passage through MasterChef.

Against that denomination, minority, rebels especially Teresa Portela in the talk prior to her seventh gamessomething never seen in SpainThe Galician is emphatic in pointing out that “it is not at all, because there is a huge base, a youth academy, successes and fantastic work by coaches and clubs.” She does accept with resignation that “in Spain there are two sports that are more visible, but that does not mean that the others are minorities.” In her opinion, “canoeing has a strength, which is being a ‘life insurance’ for Spanish sport. And that ‘moment’ guarantees projection.”

The numbers show it. In the last 20 years, 16 medals, something unattainable for the rest of the disciplines. The calculation becomes impossible if we include other international events. With results like this “everything influences”, explains Luis Brasero, the team’s coach and Paco Cubelos’ trainer. “There are feelings and realities and the reality is that Canoeing has moved up 20 floors in terms of media coverage“When I started in 2010 in the national team, the vast majority did not know the difference between canoeing and rowing,” he explains.

Although he anticipates that “there are things to improve”, he celebrates that “today the Craviotto, Cooper, Portela, Cubelos, Corbera, Chourraut… are very well known and Children want to be like that person who earns so muchbut they also want to be like that champion who is close, who takes photoswho shares a team.”

“A lot of silent work over the years to get to where we are today,” in the words of Chourraut, about a commitment that transcends the purely competitive. Those responsible for the Royal Spanish Canoeing Federation affect The HuffPost in what The key is to “take care of the product” as a wholeThey speak of “a commitment to the professionalisation of sport” that allows for a “more comprehensive dedication by the athlete and around him”. The improvement affects all departments, from a team of analysts, doctors, physiotherapists to careful press work to “create content and publicise many stories and results”.

Obviously, the television factor also influences, with Saul Craviotto as an icon. An increasingly common figure in commercial promotions, his triumph in MasterChef Celebrity It hasn’t just brought him fame. He doesn’t mind admitting that when “you walk down the street and people say ‘look, Craviotto, the cook’, you say ‘damn, I have five Olympic medals…'”. He immediately clarifies that it doesn’t bother him because “it’s been very good for me and has allowed canoeing to be brought into the homes of many millions“.

Paris, a new point

This popular canoeing is coming to Paris. There are very real options in calm waters and white waters; both in canoe (hence the C in the name of the boat, with a single blade shovel) like in kayak (represented by the K and with double bladed paddles). These options intertwine young people like Antia Jácome (Pontevedra, 1994), with the historic veterans. Looking at the DNI, the French event seems like the Olympic final for a good part of the “golden generation”who are around or over 40. These are the cases of Craviotto (39), Chourraut (41) or Portela (42)Everyone admits to having thought about retirement and that Los Angeles 2028 seems “very far away”, but no one is willing to set a date.

“I’m 39 years old, but I don’t dare to do that because I feel fine and my times are good. Injuries respect me, I do what I like, I feel privileged. After Paris we will see, there is a lot to appreciate“, he raised the pentamedallista in terms that her colleagues practically replicate.

“They have been surprising us year after year, So we can’t take anything for granted,” he adds. bucketsa companion of many concentrations, joys and also disappointments. “Many times it is not the athlete who decides to retire, but the sport itself, which already punishes you, prevents you from recovering… And in these cases it is being seen that Sport remains on the side of these monsters“, ruling on the matter.

The dangerous routine of success

Cubelos (Talavera de la Reina, 1992) does have his sights set on the 2028 Games, albeit out of the corner of his eye because of the distance. At 32, he still has a long way to go, despite having been in the elite for more than a decade. A four-time world medallist and seven-time European medallist, along with two Olympic diplomas in London 2012 and Tokyo 2020, he has lived the best years and others not so good “not so long ago”. “I was already in the national team and There were championships in which we won a medal.usually David Cal. Years passed and We have normalized adding medals and titles that we no longer value that it has.”

He knows it well. Seventh and sixth in his double Olympic experience, he assumes that “If medals are given little value, then diplomas are…”“A lot of people ask with good intentions about the medal. I ask myself this myself, and many times they tell you ‘you couldn’t get the medal’. In reality it’s ‘you could get a diploma’, because being sixth, seventh in the world is something to celebrate, although you obviously demand more from yourself and always look for that medal.”

The story hits close to home for Teresa Portela. The pontevedresa does not hold back when stating that “ignorance can be very bold; when people say that ‘he only finished fifth’. He knows perfectly well what it is to be ‘only’ fifth or fourth, as in that painful final in London 2012. In six Games he has accumulated up to five diplomas, plus his silver in Tokyo. “This seems like it’s just one day, but Being there is very, very difficult and you have to value it. You have to overcome many sieves. starting within your own country,” he says.

Although cruel, The undervaluation of a diploma shows to what extent the national canoeing triumphs. Back in Cubelos, he values ​​”the large-scale work of the Federation with its talent detection program, of the territorial and club organizations, but also of the day-to-day work of coaches and managers of small teams, who have put their own money to bring out athletes who are today or aspire to the elite.” The youth team is the example. “We are one of the most powerful countries at international level in senior and also in the youth team” he adds, citing recent examples.

As a ‘captain’, Craviotto speaks of some “almost familial” ties with their peers boat race. In his case, as part of the highly anticipated K4 that already won silver in Tokyo. “We are a very big team, not just the four teammates.” Because of the amount of time he shares with them, he comes to consider them “almost my brothers, I see them more than my wife and my family and we really love each other.”

However, No one in the team escapes extreme competitiveness which puts at risk even those who in other sports would be ‘sacred cows’. Paco Cubelos knows what it is to win the Olympic place at international level and ‘lose it’ against Marcus Cooper at the national level for Rio 2016, where the current standard-bearer took the gold in C1-1,000. “I’m used to Compete against classmates and friends with whom you share a room and then play for your place. It is hard, but it is also part of our level.” He normalizes it until it is reduced to “something objective, you go your own way and you don’t depend on a jury or the movements of another, so the rivalry is reduced and allows for healthy competition.”

“Sometimes it’s difficult to manage, I won’t deny it.“, clarifies his coach and national team manager, admitting to moments of tension. “But it must also be said that the extremely high demands at a national level guarantee a level and give the results that we see,” he concludes.

The challenge of the day after

The IOC calendar has decided that Spanish canoeing will start strong with the slalom and end on a high note with the flat water events. But those who live outside of canoeing are already looking to the day after Paris. “The path is very marked and the federation, clubs, centres are following those steps, but There is still work to be donemainly How generations mix and talent takes hold who reaches the elite,” reflects Brasero as part of the technical team.

Proud of the work done but with a critical approach, the coach points out that “We need to improve in project generation to take advantage of that ‘final’ talent of some and consolidate a successful generation like the under-23 that is already coming.” He looks at the day after Paris, the start of a conventional four-year Olympiad. “That time has to serve as we did before Tokyo. Gathering 20-30 athletes and focusing on a project with a defined direction.”