The Argentine sailors classified for the Tokyo Olympic Games -to be held between July 24 and August 8- will modify, with nuances, their planning for the appointment since the Princess Sofía Trophy, of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, first International tournament of the year with all the Olympic classes, which was to be played between March 26 and April 3, was postponed to October due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are rethinking planning. We are realizing that in very large events, which involve, in addition to athletes, many people from the periphery – such as coaches, physical trainers and companions – it is complicated by the number of people who move”, stated the sports technical director of the Argentine Federation of Yachting (FAY), Alejandro Cloos, in statements to Télam,
“We are redesigning smaller events with other countries, organized by the same coaches for smaller groups. In order to be able to do this type of unofficial competition and select the places based on the countries’ policies regarding Covid,” he said.
Cloos, 59, participated as coach of the FAY in five Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016) and in six Pan American Games (Mar del Plata 95, Winnipeg 99, Rio 2007, Guadalajara 2011, Toronto 2015 and Lima 2019).
The 51st edition of the traditional tournament that was to be played between March 26 and April 3 was postponed to October – from 2 to 9 – and offered places for Tokyo in the 49er, FX and Finn classes for European sailors.
“The priority is the safety of the approximately 1,000 sailors from some 50 nations who participate each year in this regatta, which must take place in the best possible conditions both on land and at sea,” said Ferran Muniesa, race director.
For his part, Juan de la Fuente, coach of the Santiago Lange-Cecilia Carranza Saroli duo, winner of the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, admitted in dialogue with Télam that, “obviously” both for his team as for others with Olympic goals it is “a cancellation rather than a postponement.”
“We are talking with the Italian, English and Austrian teams to fix a training place in Europe during the dates of the canceled Sofia,” said de la Fuente, who together with Lucas Calabrese won the bronze medal in class 470 at the Olympic Games. London 2012, as in Sydney 2000 together with Javier Conte.
“Generally, in the Olympic year, Sofia and the week of Hyeres, in France, are very relevant since almost the entire fleet is in Europe. In May, if the Olympic Games are outside that continent, the fleet is divided and some they go to train on the Olympic field and others run the European championship, which is usually in that month, “he said.
Lange – 58 years old, obtained the bronze medals in the Olympic Games of Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 together with Carlos Espínola from Corrientes in the Tornado class – and Carranza Saroli achieved their qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with their third place in the World Cup in Aarhus, Denmark, August 2018.
In dialogue with Télam, from Valencia, Spain, Facundo Olezza from Buenos Aires, a finalist in the 2016 Olympic Games in the Finn class and the first Argentine sailing representative to qualify for Tokyo, acknowledged: “Unfortunately we are already badly accustomed, since last year, to sudden postponements and suspensions “.
“Luckily we developed the ability to adapt quickly. I am going to replace the Princesa Sofía with one in Cádiz at the end of February,” said Olezza, 25, a representative of the Veleros Barlovento club in San Fernando.
Olezza, ninth in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and who won the silver medal in the Kiel Week, in Germany, last September, became on August 28, 2018 the first Argentine sailing representative classified to the Tokyo Games.
In turn, Francisco Guaragna Rigonat, from Santa Fe, appointed by the Argentine Federation of Yachting (FAY) for the Japanese Olympic Games in the Laser Standard sailing class, told Télam, from the United States: “personally, the Sofia’s postponement affects me in preparation: in technical aspects of competition “.
“But -he continued-, it gives me more time to be able to do a good final physical job at Cenard (National Center for High Performance Sports, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez), which is my short and medium term goal and thus be able to dedicate myself full time in the last months before Tokyo to the technical-tactical part of the regattas “.
The 23-year-old from Santa Fe, won the silver medal at the Miami World Cup in January 2020; He was a South American runner-up in his class in 2017 and a silver medal winner at the 2018 Odesur Games.
On January 18, the Argentine sailor won the silver medal in Fort Lauderdale, United States, in his first competition of the year as part of his preparation for Tokyo.
For her part, Victoria Travascio from Buenos Aires, who together with María Sol Branz, won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, 2015, in the 49er FX class, told this agency from Spain: “for now we we would stay training in Lanzarote, where possibly they organize regattas right here “.
The Argentines, who have been competing together since 2013, achieved 13th place in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, they obtained the bronze medal at the Grand Prix of Vilamoura, Portugal, last December, in their last competition of 2020.
The Argentines classified for the Tokyo Games by sailing are Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza (Nacra 17); Sol Branz and Victoria Travascio (49er FX), Facundo Olezza (Finn); Francisco Guaragna Rigonat (Laser Standart); Lucía Falasca (Laser Radial); Francisco Saubidet Birkner (RS: X Male); Celia Tejerina (RS: X female) and Belén Tavella and Lourdes Hartkopf (470 female). (Télam)
