Tono Campos is the new Spanish Winter C1 Champion over 5,000 metres

The C1 Man Senior served on Sunday morning in Seville to verify, as it happened in the K1 Women, that a new generation of canoeists is on the track to follow the great paddlers already established. Many U23 paddlers and good times in the race.

Campos followed by Romero. Photo: Fotoyos

After a clean enough start, considering they were 70 paddlers (although not without two or three capsizes, as usual in this discipline), the seeded paddlers were grouped on the left side of the channel to slowly become a reduced group of four paddlers in the return to the first turn at the finish line. Diego Romero commanded the race with Sánchez and Campos on the side washes while the young U23 Alan Ávila was hardly keeping the diamond wash, which he lost just by the third kilometre of race, paying the big effort of keeping the strong pace of the big ones.

A little further back, Manuel Garrido tried to close the gap lost after a poor start and came vigorously about 50 meters behind of Ávila, who tried desperately to return to the leading group, but with no success.


Started the short laps, Campos, Romero seemed to make Sánchez suffer too and he ended slowly sliding down to the point that he looked bottomless when Garrido, who came from behind with a lot of determination, surpassed him after having done the same with Ávila and placed himself in bronze position. The question was now if, due to mutual surveillance between Campos and Romero, Garrido would have margin enough to reach the leaders. However, Antonio Campos refused to give him more time to try it and decided to go on the attack, giving a strong pull to which Diego Romero, despite his efforts, had to surrender.

Then, already heading the finishing fine, paddlers approached one by one but with slight differences between them, keeping the suspense especially to see who was getting the U23 medals after Romero, who already secured gold in that category. Campos claimed absolute victory in a great time of 22'38", with Romero in silver a bit behind (and first U23), while the bronze medal was definitely for a brave Manuel Garrido. Behind, back again in fourth position in Seville entered a dissapointed Jose Manuel Sánchez, who was able to withstand the attack of the U23, where Alan Ávila also retained his position to enter fifth and silver medal at the U23. Two paddlers came in a close fight for the bronze medal U23, Mohammad Amar and Miguel Lopez Oterino. Finally the medal  ended up in the hands of Amar, staying Lopez Oterino seventh absolute position.

You can check the full results at this link.