Gonzalo Melero | Sportscene - The last two days - the third and fourth stages of the Río Negro Regatta were held in Argentina from Choele Choel to Luis Beltran (38 km) and Don Andrés to General Conesa (43 km). There has been a very big change in the K2 races due to the incidents in the front bunch on the first two stages. To avoid similiar incidents, the officials decided that the Senior Men K2 would start one at a time every 30 seconds, in a controversial decision that completely change the pace of the race.

The lucky draw set Juan Manuel Scalesi and Julian Algañaraz to start first, while Santiago Scalesi and Luis Amado went 30 seconds later. It wasn't long before they joined together to lead the race. Behind them, Balboa and Guerrero starting in sixth position with three other theoretically slower boats ahead of them that could be their reference to reach the Scalesis. And in fact, halfway through the race they were overtaking a second group just behind the leading duo.

At the end of the day was the first mandatory portage of this stage. There, Santiago Scalesi and Luis Amado Pérez distanced themselves from their partners to pass the finish line first, but they were not the winners, as closer behind Balboa and Guerrero had shortened the distance considerably. They finally arrived as winners with a time of 1'04" ahead of Scalesi and Pérez, while di Renzo and Reyes gained third place. This resulted in Balboa and Guerrero having a lead of 1'08" overall.

In K1, with the race starting all at once, as it should be, Alfredo Quiñanao showed that his two previous victories were no joke. The pupil of Néstor Pinta at Patagones School again maintained a closed fight with Gastón Gaona during the stage, but in the final stretch, including the portage, he managed to take a small advantage to cross the finish line and add some precious seconds to his overall lead.

On Wednesday, the fourth stage of the Black River Regatta began ,with the established Don Andrés and General Conesa (43 km), and Santiago and Luis Amado Pérez Scalesi making a great comeback not only allowing them to close the gap with Balboa and Guerrero in the overall standings, but to improve thier time by almost two minutes, being now set at 1'44" on the former leaders.

Again with starts every 30 seconds, Balboa and Guerrero had a solo race during the whole stage while Scalesi and Luis Amado Pérez rejoined Juan Manuel Scalesi and Julián Algañaraz , allowing them to gain valuable relays for the journey.

As recognized by Santiago Scalesi after the race, they decided to give absolutely everything at this stage to be able, after the second break to face the last two stages to Viedma in a better position. And it couldn’t have been better, as they had almost three minutes on Balboa and Guerrero, who said they suffered fatigue after an initial charge after the third stage and not being able to find a good pace from the first strokes. Finally finishing fourth on this stage their assault to the final title is a bit more complicated.

In K1, on the other hand, Alfredo Quiñanao has no obstacles to final victory increasing his strong leadership by again winning the fourth stage, ahead of Sebastian Leyes and Gastón Gaona.

There were not as many women as usual in Río Negro, but Lorena Ibáñez, an international paddler of the Argentinian marathon team, is the most remarkable, paddling K2 with Andrés Silva and managing so far to win the four stages, even some of them ahead of the first K1s, which is a great performance.

Daily chats after the finish, have seen youngster Balboa, while talking to Scalesi, lamenting how the draw has punished them this time. "This system start hurts, because our boat goes very well on the wash and has a good sprint. But now, whoever gets to the finish line first may not be the winner and this generates no fun for the spectators", said Balboa. He added that "there are things about the race that hopefully will change, because actually the worlds are not conducted liked this". However, he said, he and his partner were focused on the last two stages. "They won't be as easy as some believe", he said referring to Scalesi.

On the other side, Santiago Scalesi remembered that if the race system is now a time trial it's due to the bad behaviour of Balboa in the first two stages. "It's very difficult dealing with this kid and his dirty mouth. As a paddler he is excellent but not as a person".

At this link you can check the overall standings after 4 days of race.