A 16 year old canoeist from the Municipal Canoe Club in Calasparra missed being national Slalom champion by 2.7 seconds at the recent white water championships in La Seu d’Urgell.
Juan Martínez Rodríguez, now officially the second fastest slalom canoeist in Spain, raced against 37 competitors from other Spanish canoe clubs, in the “cadet” category of the National Championships on the River Segre.
Juan first entered the National Championships at the tender age of 13 years old when he also attained second place. The following year he took the champion´s medal in the “infant” category. Last year, when he entered the higher “cadet” category for the first time he finished the race in seventh place.
Juan, who has been competing for the past nine years, now has high hopes of being selected to represent his country at the international white water championships.
