The Andalusian Olympic Week celebrates its 20th anniversary

More than 170 athletes from 18 countries and 6 autonomous communities will compete from this Thursday in the waters of the Bay of Cadiz for the titles of the Andalusian Olympic Week, Carnival Trophy , which celebrates its twentieth anniversary over four days until Sunday, March 2. In addition to the absolute titles open to all nations, the Andalusian regatta puts into play the Spanish championships of the Olympic class iQFOil Absolute and Under 23 , male and female. The hosts also have the opportunity to achieve the triple since for many the regatta puts the luck for the autonomous cups of the season that has just started.

The iQFOil classes will feature the participation of the latest national Olympic representatives, the Balearic Nacho Baltasar and the Andalusian Pilar Lamadrid . Among the men, there will be eight countries represented (Spain, Austria, Brazil, Finland, India, Portugal, Turkey and Ukraine) and 19 Spaniards between the senior and Under 23 categories. Among the former, athletes of the stature of the Andalusians Fernando Martínez del Cerro (CT Vela Puerto Sherry), Fernando Lamadrid (CN Puerto Sherry) and Aurelio Terry (CN Sevilla) are competing for the national title, against the Catalan Guillem Segu or the windsurfer from the Valencian community Jorge Aranzueque. For his part, Baltasar is aiming for the Under 23 title against his territorial teammate Bernat Tomas or the Andalusians Ángel Medina (RC El Candado) and Alejandro Arauz (CN Puerto Sherry), among others. Among the foreign candidates, two have as coaches the Andalusians Borja Carracedo with the Austrian Theo Peter, and Juan Manuel Moreno with the American Noah Lyons.

Among the women, the windsurfer from CN Puerto Sherry, Pilar Lamadrid, has all the tickets to renew the national title, but she will have to fight for the absolute title with representatives from four other countries (India, Czech Republic, Sweden and the United States). Also in this fleet there are three visitors who have Andalusians in the coaching staff: the American Dominique Stater, who is trained by Pedro Pascual, and the Czechs Katerina Almantnova and Katerina Svikova under the orders of Jaime Andrés.

In the Under 23 category, Czechs and Norwegians will try to be crowned champions in the Bay of Cadiz, while Spaniards such as the Andalusians Carmen and Arancha Sahuquillo or Lucía García Cubillana (CN Sevilla), the Catalan Julia Gómez or the Balearic Islands Barbara Winau and Andrea Torres will give it their all to be the best in Spain.

It will also be a regatta valid for the Spanish Olympic circuit for the ILCA 6 Women's class (the men's is not Olympic), a class in which the Andalusians Marta Robles (RC El Candado), Rocío Blázquez (RC Mediterráneo) and Raquel Retamero from RCN de La Línea, an athlete who is part of the CEEDA academic and sports program that takes place at the Bahía de Cádiz Specialized Center for Sports Development of Sailing, headquarters of the Andalusian Sailing Federation in El Puerto de Santa María, are competing for the absolute and regional title.

In the same class, his fellow CEEDA programme members Alberto Medel (CN Sevilla), Roberto Aguilar and Carl-Otto Plaza from CNM Benalmádena, José Manuel Vargas from CAN Eslora, Diego del Río from RCN de Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Sorin Romero from CM Almería, will compete this time for the regional cup. The other member of the programme, María de la Corte from La Línea, will compete in the ILCA 4 class.

Another class with the Andalusian Cup at stake is the 420, a class that this year celebrates the Spanish championship in the same waters, with favourite crews such as those made up of Josete Ruiz and Vicente Hernández (CN Puerto Sherry), Jose Medel and Pablo Fernández (CN Sevilla/CN Puerto Sherry), or the women's crew of Martina Mas and Carla Fernández (CN Puerto Sherry/CN Sevilla). The winners of the absolute title will also be among the Andalusians.

Continuing with the regional cups, the ILCA 4 class is once again the largest with a total of 55 entrants and the Andalusian flag as the only protagonist among the Spanish. Canadians and Moroccans are also competing for the overall title.

Among the Juniors of the Olympic class iQFOil, a fleet for which, just like the older ones, the Olympic week will be the best training for the iQFOil Games that will be held in a few weeks also in the Bay of Cadiz, among the Under 19s there are many hopes for the absolute and regional titles in windsurfers such as the runner-up of Spain, Antonio Medina (RC El Candado) and Alejandro Selma (CN Puerto Sherry) among the boys, and in Blanca Sahuquillo (CN Sevilla), Lucía Guardiola or Carmen Pica (CN Puerto Sherry) among the girls. Argentines, Dutch and Portuguese also compete in this fleet.

In iQFOil Sub 17 one of the candidates is the young Olivia Sánchez (CN Sevilla) who has just won the Spanish Techno Sub 15 championship, and among the boys will be the third best in Spain, the Malaga native Álvaro Pastor (RC El Candado), among others.

Finally, in the ILCA 7 Olympic class, the Germans are in the majority, compared to Spanish candidates such as the Andalusians Diego Manuel Torregrosa, current regional champion, and Álvaro Pozo of the RCN de Sanlúcar de Barrameda or Eduardo Orihuela of the CN Sevilla.

After several days of training, the first qualifying rounds will begin on Thursday at midday . The competition will then start in the Bay of Cadiz with four days to go until Sunday 2 March, the last day which will also host the trophy presentation ceremony at the end of the regatta.

To accommodate the large fleet, the organisation has set up two regatta areas ; one for the iQFOil boards and another for the ILCA and 420 classes. On land and at sea, the Andalusian Sailing Federation is mobilising more than fifty people to make one of its major regattas possible. It seems that the conditions will be up to the fleet's standards with four windy days from all directions, which will distribute the opportunities among the candidates.

The 20th Andalusian Olympic Week, Carnival Trophy is a regatta organised by the Bahía de Cádiz Centre for Sports Development and the Andalusian Sailing Federation on behalf of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, with the sponsorship of the Andalusian Regional Government, the Provincial Council of Cádiz, the Town Council of El Puerto de Santa María and Puerto Sherry. Once again this year, the regatta will have the collaboration of the Andalusian Centre for Sports Medicine with the assistance of Dr. M. Carmen Vaz.