Hondarribia - This Tuesday afternoon, on the eve of San Juan, Hondarribia Arraun Elkartea will present the crews of its three boats at Kai Zaharra. Following tradition, the rowing club will gather its rowers before the citizens to introduce the squads, and afterwards, everyone will enjoy together the San Juan bonfire and associated festival organized by Klink Elkartea.
The event will begin at 8:00 PM with a brief performance by the Music Band, followed by the formal presentation of the athletes. Subsequently, the bonfire will be lit, and the festival will commence.
The season is approached with different objectives for each boat. The 'A' trainera plans the campaign as a second reconstruction effort, though with the ambition to seize any opportunity to add a trophy to the club's heritage. For the women's team, the summer presents a clear and ambitious challenge. After being relegated last season, the goal is to regain a place in the elite with a squad of skilled rowers, experienced and trained by Osertz Alday.
The male 'B' boat will continue its development work, aiming to accumulate good results in the ARC League to comfortably maintain its category while its rowers continue to progress.
By the time of this Tuesday's presentation, the B and women's traineras have already competed in the first two regattas of their respective competitions. The men have fared well, but the women have more reason to be satisfied with the time-trial format races so far. On Saturday's opening day in Astillero, the outcome was bittersweet, as they finished just one second short of improving Zarautz's time and winning the flag. They redeemed themselves on Sunday on the waters of Pasaia Bay with a spectacular final stretch that gave them a seven-second lead over Zarautz and the Hernani ikurriña, their first of the season.
The Hondarribia team shares the top spot in the standings with Zarautz, holding a three-point lead over Kaiku and five over Deusto. The B trainera, meanwhile, opened the season with a sixth-place finish in Astillero, just six-tenths of a second behind the fourth position occupied by the local boat. The following day, in the Adinberri Trophy, the green affiliate came in fifth, again close but not as close (1.8 seconds) to fourth place. They are currently fifth overall.
