Cubans win bronze in
Canoeing World Championship

Cubans Serguey Torres and Rolexis Báez won the bronze medal on August 9 in the 500 meters C-2 double of the Canoeing World Championship, held at the Krylatskoye Aquatic Center, in Moscow, Russia.

The duo Serguey Torres and Rolexis Báez maintained Cuba’s medal-winning
tradition in the World Canoeing Championship.

According to the event’s website, Torres and Báez finished with a time of 1:39.385 minutes, behind Russians Alexey Korovashkov and Iván Shtyl (1:35.829) and Romanians Liviu Alexandru Dumitrescu and Víctor Mihalachi (1:38.381).

Hungary was the overall winner, garnering six gold, five silver and six bronze medals, followed by Russia (4-2-2) and Germany (2-5-1).

Both Torres-Báez, and individual kayaker Yusmari Mengana, performed to their full potential, giving it their all in the 500, 200 and 1,000 meters, nine regattas in four days; with an extraordinary effort from Mengana in the 500, 200 meters, reaching a total of six regattas.

This effort (they were the only rowers to compete in three distances), without a doubt, had an impact on their performance, given that Torres and Báez ended up seventh in the final A of the 200 meters - with a time of 36.799 seconds – won by Russian pair Alexey Korovashkov and Iván Shtyl (35.350), followed by Germans Robert Nuck and Stefan Holtz (35.706) and Brazilians Erlon De Souza Silva and Isaquias Queiroz (36.064).

In addition, they ended their performance taking first place - with 3:37.404 minutes - in the B final of the 1,000 meters, and ranking 10th in the overall classifications just above the Polish duo Mateusz Kaminski and Michal Kudla (3:37.516).

Yusmari Mengana rowed in the B finals of the 500 and 200 meters; finishing in the 500 meters in ninth and last place, with a time of 1:59.039 minutes. (Winner Danuta Kózak from Hungary finished with a time of 1:49.283.) Mengana faired a little better in the 200 meter final finishing in 40.543 seconds, but once again far from the leader, on this occasion New Zealander Lisa Carrington (37.898).