Esperanza Barreras returned this weekend to the glorious 2019 in which in her first participation in a paddle surfing World Cup (in El Salvador) she won two gold medals in Technical and Long Distance. The same loot obtained in the town of Sables d’Olone where the Viguesa confirmed to be the best world specialist in this young discipline with which she fell in love years ago after her arrival in Fuerteventura: “After achieving two silver medals in the World Cup last year, “One year in Puerto Rico we focused all our work on returning to the top of the podium this time and it turned out wonderfully.”
In the Technique test (a circuit of about six kilometers with constant entries and exits from the beach) the woman from Vigo says she found ideal conditions: “There was a lot of wave quality and although it is a test that is always somewhat unpredictable, I had very good timing and saved a couple of mistakes that allowed me to come back a little then I stood out again.” The Long Distance test, on a very demanding 18 kilometer route, Esperanza Barreras slightly varied her usual approach. She was used to breaking up the group too soon, on this occasion she chose to make a first selection and then wait for the final stretch to find out who was capable of being with her. Only the also Spanish Duna Gordillo resisted after her until the last change of the Vigo woman, a little from the beach, sentenced the test and left her compatriot without an answer: “I usually take the Long Distance tests to the physical, but in This time we approach it differently, with a greater strategic burden. In addition, it was hot, with little wind, conditions that always affect performance and complicated the test. She also wanted to manage the effort well.” The world event in France also had another peculiar circumstance and that is that for the first time the woman from Vigo was going to meet several specialists (especially French women, who competed at home) and whom she had not yet controlled. That added uncertainty that the competition ended up clearing up.
In France, Barreras once again gave a lesson in his strength but also in his ability to interpret the waves, to “read the sea” which is another of the qualities needed to master a sport like paddle surfing: “Every time the preparation It is more like that of athletes, people are better and more trained. But the factor of moving in the sea, each person’s technique, remains essential. I know people who in calm waters can go stronger than me but when we enter the sea the situation changes.” The woman from Vigo also relates this to her training. Raised in Galicia, in a family with obvious inclinations towards nautical sports, sailing was her main hobby: “The boards we use in many ways are very similar to the hulls of a sailing boat and that has helped me a lot to to read the waves and to move better in the sea.”
This change from sailing to paddle surfing occurred in Fuerteventura when she arrived in Corralejo more than five years ago to work as a Sailing Sports Technician. In the club where she started working she found that this new sport was also practiced. Esperanza and paddle surfing met and the crush was immediate: “As soon as I caught the first waves I was completely hooked.” The first competitions arrived, the lifelong learning, the championships in the Canary Islands and soon those in Spain. Her evolution was unstoppable until Spain outgrew her and international competitions began to arrive. In 2019 she made a big splash at the World Cup in El Salvador where she won two gold medals. The COVID break stopped her collecting for two years and in 2022 she returned with two silver medals. And now back to the top of the box, a place from which he does not plan to leave in 2024 although along the way he will still try to win the European title in Peniche (Portugal), where he will surely be accompanied by a large parish of Galician friends and family who will drop by to attend the competition.
Esperanza Barreras, although she does not make long-term plans, plans to stay for a while in Fuerteventura where they have formed a powerful training group with athletes of enormous quality and that attracts more people willing to evolve: “We are clear that training with high-level people allows us helps everyone improve. And that’s where we are.”
The bad part of this story is that despite the world titles Esperanza Barreras assures that the sport gives her to “survive” and what comes in on the one hand (especially thanks to the victories in the spring circuit and in the clinics she teaches ) comes out to finance the presence in the competitions. There is a lack of aid, sponsors, brands that are committed. Neither do public aid and scholarships arrive, something that could change if paddle surfing manages to find a place in the Olympic program, something they are working on for 2028. She explains that now she is working on the search of an advertising medium or a brand that can help it for the future. It would be the minimum for a double world champion.
2023-10-04 04:10:46
#woman #read #waves
