Gonzalo Melero | Sportscene - If days 3 and 4 represented a turn around in the K2 standings at the Río Negro Regatta, no less surprising were the last two stages finishing in Viedma, the final destination of the great Argentinian race. On the final day the very young Franco Balboa and José Luis Guerrero claimed the overall victory, inheriting the throne left by Pinta and Mozzicafredo, twelve-time kings of the regatta.

On the other hand misfortune came to Santiago Scalesi and Spanish Luis Amado Pérez who were the leaders until the last day. Final victory eluded them a few kilometers from the finish line.

On day 5, from San Javier to Viedma (34 km,) the K2 started every 30 seconds, like in a time trial. It was time for Balboa and Guerrero to give everything on the water. In a titanic effort, they reached their goal, cutting almost all the advantage Scalesi and Pérez had achieved in the fourth stage. The strong winds on arrival at Viedma were no disincentive to the young aspirants, who knew that in the last stage the start would again be all together and that their sprint speed could be a very important asset. Finally, Spanish- Argentinian couple Scalesi and Pérez took the lead by just 8 seconds.

The race start on day 6 was again in one group for the last 24 km. stage between the bridges of Viedma (a circuit along the riverside walk with two mandatory portages.) This indicated that the race would be tight between the two favorite boats, as Scalesi and Perez could wait for their rivals to take the responsibility.

Not everything could be under control and the day dawned with a strong wind that made the officials make the decision to change the circuit, taking off one of the turns that was very exposed to waves. Despite the course then following one of the banks, the tremendous waves caused problems to competitors, many of whom saw their waterpumps overwhelmed. Unfortunately for them, this was the case for Santiago Scalesi and Luis Amado Pérez. After a bizarre encounter with Balboa and Guerrero in the first turn, they both managed to rejoin the main group. Later in the race, after having gone through the portage in first position, Scalesi and Pérez saw their options sinking along with their boat. It took them a couple of minutes to bring it to shore and resume the race, so absolute triumph would clearly go to Balboa and Guerrero. Second in this stage were Juan Manuel Scalesi and Santiago Algañaraz, who were nevertheless still outside the final podium. Agustin Reyes and Guillermo di Renzo were third in both this stage and the overall standings.

In the K1, Alfredo Quiñanao again took both victories in the last two stages, confirming his strong leadership of the race. Quiñanao always won with small differences of under or around one minute, but every day he gained more seconds in his favor. The fact that his rivals, especially Gastón Gaona and Sebastian Leyes, were always swapping positions favored the hegemony of Quiñanao. Finally, he was awarded a well-deserved victory with nearly 8 minutes lead over Sebastian Leyes. Leyes came second after a close fight with Gaona, who took the bronze position, only half a minute behind.

In the women’s events, the international Argentinian paddler Loreña Ibáñez deserves a mention after winning the mixed category; along with Andrés Silva making better time than the first boat in the Men’s K1. In the K2 Women’s race, victory went to Claudia Kissner and Mariela Rúa.

For the first time in the 38 editions of Río Negro, a C1 raced and finished, more than eight hours later than the winners. This honour belongs to the brave Argentinian paddler Juan P. Benítez.

Here you can see the final standings:

• Stage 5
• Stage 6
• Final overall results