Luanco’s canoeing coach Miguel García will receive a new recognition, this time in Madrid, at the headquarters of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), on the occasion of the National Canoeing Gala, which is being held again after the covid-break. 19. And among those distinguished in this thirty-eighth edition of the gala, chaired by Alejandro Blanco and Javier Hernanz, will be the Spaniard, affectionately nicknamed “el Negro”, responsible for the preparation of the Spanish kayak crews men who obtained medals in the Olympic Games Beijing-2008, London-2012, Rio de Janeiro-2016 and Tokyo-2020. He will receive the award as the best coach of the year 2022, José Montes Trophy.
On August 7, 2021, the Gozoniego Miguel García Fernández, technical manager of the K-4 500 meters of Spain at the Tokyo Olympics, added to his record what was his fifth Olympic medal, this time silver, thanks to quartet made up of Saúl Craviotto (Lérida, 11/3/84), the Mallorcan Marcus Cooper Walz (Oxford, 10/3/94) and the Galicians Carlos Arévalo López (Betanzos, 11/6/93) and Rodrigo Germade Barreiro (Cangas de Morrazo, 8/23/90), who finished as Olympic runners-up, fighting to the last breath for gold, this one won by the Germans, the great favorites.
Five decades ago, in Gainesville (Canada), at the Atlanta-96 Olympic Games, on that occasion as a paddler, forming a team boat in the K-4 1,000 meters with Jovino González Comesaña, Emilio Merchán Alonso and Gregorio Vicente Hernández, Miguel García Fernández had been classified fifth -Olympic diploma-. In the same way, in that same Canadian Olympic event, “el Negro” also obtained another diploma to add to his personal record as a kayaker, this time for his sixth place in the K-1 500 meter final.
At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the K-4 1,000 meters of the Spanish national team, with Luis Brasero Merino as technical manager, set up by Javier Hernanz from Parra–who was also an Olympian at the Athens Games, although on that occasion in K-2-, together with the Galicians Óscar Carrera and Rodrigo Germade and the Basque Íñigo Peña Arriola, obtained fifth place and, therefore, an Olympic diploma. The medals were distributed by the representatives of Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while fourth place went to Australia.
The K-4 of the Spanish team has always been one of the icons of canoeing in this country in calm waters, despite not qualifying for the Olympic Games in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London, although other modalities and specialties did attend those events (kayak and canoe). To review the Spanish K-4 is to remember unforgettable times of the paddlers Chema Esteban Celorrio, the Ceuta Díaz Flor, the candasín Herminio Menéndez and the Galician Ramos Misioné, silver medalist in Montreal (1976), beaten by the Soviet Union; and world champions in Belgrade (1975).
The last Olympic success of Saúl, Marcus, Arévalo and Germade, in 2021 came after a few months that had been somewhat heated as a result of the selection process to configure the crew that took place in Trasona (Corvera de Asturias), calling into question the planning of the technical manager of the team, Miguel Garcia. In the end, the results endorsed the excellent work delivered in that last Olympic cycle by the Gozoniego coach – a gold medal in the World Cup in Szeged, this year – and whose icing on the cake was that gold-flavored silver medal in Tokyo. As well as the 2022 World Cup, at Lake Banook in Halifax (Canada), beating the Germans.
At the National Canoeing Gala this Saturday, the young paddler from Coañes, Lucía Val Cerdeira (Club Los Albiones de Navia), will also be awarded as the best junior female kayaker. Likewise, the RFEP 2022 Legend Awards will go to Saul Craviotto, Maialen Chourraut and Teresa Portela; and the sponsor of the year will go to “Asturias Paraíso Natural”. As for the best canoeists, the winners in this edition are Carlos Arévalo and Teresa Portela.
