Sunday was a big day for the Banyoles Swimming Club. And it is that the rower of the entity, Aleix Garcia, together with the Galician Rodrigo Conde, were proclaimed European runners-up in Munich in the men’s light double sculls with a time of 6:38.46, surpassed by only 2.53 by the pair Croatian team consisting of the Sinkovic brothers, a priori favourites. Garcia and Conde, representing the Spanish committee from street 4, battled Martin and Valent Sinkovic, champions at the Rio de Janeiro Games, for the gold, leading them even in the first 500 meters by 0.43. The Croatians turned the tide of the test in the second and third quarters, condemning Spain to second place. Lithuania took the bronze in 6.18.
“It was a very nice experience. Everything was very well organized, the regatta field was very cool. And there was anticipation and we had a great weekend”, assures the rower from Girona. He also explains that they came with expectations for the last results and that they fought until the end: “We were only 2 seconds away from the gold. I am very satisfied”, he concludes.
Carles Grabulosa, rowing coach of CN Banyoles, evaluates very positively the performance of the club’s athletes in the European championship, especially for standing up to Martin and Valent Sinkovic, who in recent years have proved intractable: “The the level that Aleix and Rodrigo have shown is very high. They had against the ropes for more than half of the regatta the Sinkovic brothers, who have been intractable for many years at international level. They did the cycle of the Rio Games in a double hurdle and won everything, then they changed and went to two without and they were also intractable and won the Tokyo Games with two without».
However, Grabulosa assures that if the job is done well, Garcia and Conde could take the hegemony from them: “Now they have returned to the double-reel mode and they are still winning, but it is costing them. Aleix and Rodrigo are getting stronger every day and they are getting more expensive. They are young, they have only been shooting for a year. If we keep our feet on the ground and continue to work with constancy and discipline, we can dream and trust that it will be a bot that can give us many joys and illusions.”
Girona’s Aleix Garcia, only 22 years old, adds a new triumph to his record, his second international podium after winning bronze in the under-23 men’s double sculls two years ago. In addition, last year he was proclaimed state ski champion and this season, together with Conde himself, he won bronze in Belgrade and Lucerne.
Looking to the future, Aleix Garcia assures that he will not set any limits: “With only one year we are on the podium. We are the youngest boat with the least experience, and also the one with the most progression when it comes to gaining speed.’ He is now focusing on the World Rowing Championships, which will be held at the end of September in the Czech Republic, and the Paris Games, where he hopes to have a chance to win gold.
There were also other rowers from CN Banyoles who obtained good results. Manel Balastegui, accompanied by Caetano Horta, finished in second place in the final B of the light double sculls. On the other hand, Jordi Jofre reached third place in the C final and finished fifteenth in the skiff. Aleix Garcia himself assures that the work done by CN Banyoles has helped him reach this milestone: “It is the club where I grew up. I have achieved this thanks to the values that are passed on to you from a young age, of sacrifice and enthusiasm, as well as thanks to my colleagues, technicians and management team. I feel like I have them with me in every race and I want to get every success. I want to be a point of reference for children who want to be sportsmen at CN Banyoles”, he says.
