Zierbena Bahías from Bizkaia finished last season as the second best Biscayan drifter, in fourth place with 181 points, and close to third place that Santurtzi occupied. Borja Gómez, his employer, was also second behind Arkaitz Díaz, from Donostiarra. The ‘galipos’ will strive from Saturday to continue in the leading group, the one in which they have settled in the last three seasons. “I think we can go back up there where we have been for several years. To aspire to win you must be in the honors roundr. Right now, until the League starts, I don’t see anyone being above us. In A Coruña we all start from scratch. I don’t see myself above or below anyone. There is already a desire for regattas ”, summarizes Juan Zunzunegui, Vigo coach of the Euskadi Long Distance champions last March before the world stopped. Zierbena also had victories in the descents.
Zunzunegui expects a good start in the waters of A Coruña and San Sebastián to arrive with morale on July 12, date your club will host the XXXVII Petronor Flag, and be able to fight to win as it did the previous year in the CaixaBank Flag in Castro. The Galician coach, for the seventh consecutive season, is the coach of a Zierbena trawler who looks up.
Now ends a preseason that “has been a bit unusual for everyone. Until the beginning of March it was quite good … with the Descensos and the Euskadi Championships in line with what we expected. Later, the issue of confinement came up and work was done at home, following up on the team, which responded well and everyone arrived in good condition when they were able to row. The days we have had to train together we have made the most of to get well to this first regatta. Everyone got on the train to present themselves in perfect shape, despite being at home. Now, the days we are carrying water we are enjoying, “says the coach from Vigo.
The proximity factor
This season will have a campus in which some changes have been made in the ‘tostas’. In Zierbena they have looked for rowers who were from places closer than last year, «because, with the theme of travel and work of some Galicians and Asturians, during the week we did not complete the ‘training’ as much as we would like, so We have sought to strengthen a profile of rowers who were from the environment. The changes, at first, from what we already saw in winter, are all coming together very well and now let’s see if we enjoy this summer, “wishes Zunzunegui.
Mario Hernando, Sergio Montenegro, Mikel Portularrume, Efrén Sánchez, Ismael Montes, Carlos Palazuelos, Íñigo Ibáñez and Aitor López are high in the ‘galipo’ club. For their part, Jaime de Haz, Asier Bermejo, José Ángel García, Joseba Larrarte, Daniel González, Garikoitz Lopetegi, Eleder López, Iker Pascual and Jaime Ríos are low.
“More than the staff, or that there are some names or others, the task that is being carried out in the club is that the people who come along adapt well to the way we propose to work, to the philosophy we have of competing in everything we can and thus be prepared for all competitions. This year the staff still has a little more experience. We have opted for a type of work, “says the Galician.
In his speech, the Zierbena coach repeated the verb “enjoy” a lot, so that his rowers could transfer them to the different regattas. “And that is what can give you options if circumstances come to you, to be able to be higher fighting for the League or to win more flags. But what we are clear about is that you have to be competitive and be in the fight, “he insists. They really want to row to continue in the ointment.
Zierbena
- Patterns.
Borja Gómez and Aitor Lazcano (patterns).
- Template.
Raúl García, Alberto González, Marcos González, Asier Hernández, Mario Hernando, Jon Lecanda, Francisco Montes, Endika Morán, Eladio Sánchez, Alberto Vidal, Luis Miguel Villar.
- High:
Mario Hernando, Sergio Montenegro, Iñigo Ibáñez, Ismael Montes, Carlos Palazuelos, Mikel Portularrume, Efrén Sánchez.
“Last year’s ranking marks the starting order”
Zunzunegi considers that the competition is increasingly more even, and where the slightest failure penalizes the crews, as happened last year. In fact, regarding the favoritism of some drifters, he is very clear: «For me, the final classification of the League last year is the order of departure of this. I count on the league champion, Orio, to be the strongest; the second, the second best … and when the regattas pass they can change that. It is difficult for there to be very important changes of positions in the League, but we have spent two or three years with very equal and interesting regattas for the public. Now you get confused and you can lose several positions », he warns.
And the latter is what the ‘galipos’ do not want, satisfied with the performance of the last three campaigns. “When it comes to ranking a position higher or one lower there are many factors that can influence, but what we want is to be competitive. Since we are there these years in the honor rounds and being able to play the regattas, as the ACT level is, we want to stay in that fight, ”wishes the Zierbena coach.
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