As the headline says, Cieza natives Francisco José Morcillo Molina and Francisco Javier García Rios from our Thader Kayak club have once again revalidated first place in the 28th National Descent of the Segura between Cieza and Blanca, thus achieving this for the eighth consecutive year.
More than 250 paddlers participated in the descent organized by the Blanca Canoeing Club. A total of 14 boats in the K2 senior category would open the competition, covering a total of 14,700 meters, between the towns of Cieza and Blanca.
This competition had a special appeal with two favorite boats: the K2 boat, formed by Manuel Bustos from Asturias, a nine-time world marathon champion, and Beatriz Manchón from Seville, a four-time Olympic champion. These two were the favorites, while the other was Javier Melus and Julio Mico from Valencia, the current European master marathon champions.
Against all odds, the Cieza team beat the favorites with a time of 47:48, Manolo and Beatriz finishing second, and the Valencian boat Javier and Julio in third place. Another K2 boat from the Thader club, Iván Hortelano and Rudy Hortelano, would finish in 7th place. The winner of the senior K1 also stayed at home, which went to local paddler Francisco Jesús López, and José Luis Saorin in 2nd place.
In the C2 senior category, local paddlers Samuel Yuste and Antonio Abellán finished second, while in the K1 master category, another local paddler, Antonio Jesús Lucas, took second place. Regarding the club classification, Thader Kayak from Cieza placed 7th out of a total of 20 national clubs.
From here, we congratulate you on your dedication and the excellent results you achieved once again this year in this Murcian competition.