A few weekends ago, Mantas beach located in Punta Leona, Costa Rica was the scene of the first edition of the Coastal Rowing tournament, American Beach Sprint Championship, a championship that brings together 16 countries, including the current world champion of this sport. . Thedelegationsthat are part of thetournament are: Mexico, USA (worldchampion), Canada, Ecuador, DominicanRepublic, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Bahamas, Barbados, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela.
“This is a sports discipline that is barely developing in the Costa Rican territory and the region. Costa Rica welcomed the idea of becoming the venue for this important first edition, not only at the national level but also at the continental level. The idea is to promote this sport since it is on its way to becoming an Olympic sport for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics”, said Henry Chaves, coordinator of the Costa Rican Rowing Federation.
This event started with a departure of approximately 30 meters towards the boat and then slalom paddling on 2 buoys towards a last buoy located 250 meters from the beach and returns in a straight line. The race ended with one rower from each team running towards the finish line on the beach. The competitions were the following: Men and women C1x and Mixed CMix2x.
About the venue
The Hotel Punta Leona was chosen to be part of the organization and venue of the event, since it met all the logistical conditions to organize the world-class sporting event. It is located 1 hour and a half from the capital, and offers the necessary facilities both for the competitors of the delegations that will arrive in the country and for the tourists who will be enjoying the championship.
Likewise, Playa Mantas is one of the safest beaches in the country. It has no currents, it has very favorable accesses and exits and its dimensions are ideal for practicing rowing. “Costa Rica has the task of carrying out the first international tournament in America of this magnitude, being a platform that places Punta Leona on the world tourism map as a point of reference in terms of world-class sports activities. This attracts tourism, stimulates the economy and favors the community in every way”, commented César Vargas, Corporate Relations Manager of Hotel Punta Leona.
Since the beginning of 2023, Hotel Punta Leona worked hand in hand with the Costa Rica Rowing Federation to ensure the successful development of the event, carrying out actions such as the I Level I Technical Course for Coastal rowing coaches, which was given during the week prior to the tournament, sending hotel staff to train in an international Costal Rowing course in Peru, for more than 15 days.
«We have always supported the organization of sporting events and the development of healthy lifestyles. We believe that Costal Rowing is a discipline that has a lot of potential to grow in the country, and we can offer all the conditions for the sport to develop in the region. We want to provide all the facilities to those who want to learn or seriously train this discipline and be able to have representatives of this sport in different international competitions and why not, reach the Olympics”, says Vargas.
At the national level, this event marked the beginning of the development of Coastal Rowing at a more professional level, since Costa Rica has been a pioneer in the practice of this sport. Today, it becomes the venue for one of the sporting events most important in the world in this discipline.
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