EKAITZ SAIES

One of the many things that elite sport have taught me is to see life in cycles. A week represents a microcycle, a month a mesocycle, a season a macrocycle (or several, depending on the methodology applied), and the Olympic Games a 4-year cycle called an Olympiad.
Many elite athletes I know postpone most of their important decisions until the Olympic cycle has passed. This helps maintain the much-needed focus on the details of their athletic preparation process.

Since I left high-level competition more than 10 years ago and began working as Technical Director at the Royal Spanish Canoeing Federation, my philosophy has remained along the same lines: to work as intensely as possible until the Olympic Games and, once they are over, to reconsider the future.
I started working at the RFEP after the World Championship and Olympic qualifier in Milan 2015, when I was just 33 years old. Now I leave at 42, with two more children than I had back then, a doctorate, grey hair and wrinkles that reflect my time in this position, and countless joys and successes that I have experienced alongside our athletes, coaches, leaders, and fans of this wonderful sport.

Over these years, I have witnessed historic achievements by our athletes, such as the 3 Olympic golds (2 in sprint and 1 in slalom) and the bronze in Rio 2016.
I celebrated from home the 3 silver medals in Tokyo 2020 (again 2 in sprint and 1 in slalom) after a cycle that was, to say the least, different; and I enjoyed my maturity in the role, this time overseeing only sprint, with the 2 bronzes in Paris 2024.

But the Olympic Games are not the only highlight. During these years, I have enjoyed unforgettable World Championships, like Racice in 2017, where we won a medal in Men’s K4 in an Olympic event after 44 years, the last one being the legendary K4 team in Belgrade 1975. Or the Szeged 2019 World Championship, an Olympic qualifier for Tokyo 2020, where we managed to qualify 4 boats for the Olympics, all of which won medals in front of over 30,000 spectators.
Then there was the 2019 World Championship in La Seu, where we qualified 4 spots for Tokyo 2020 and achieved a historic milestone by taking 2 out of the 3 podium spots in Men’s K1 for the first time ever.

Moving into the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle and focusing exclusively on sprint, the World Championships in Halifax 2022 and Duisburg 2023 will remain etched in my memory forever.
From the outset of this project, we aimed to build the most complete and competitive team possible in the 4 categories, with the goal of qualifying as many paddlers as possible for Paris.
In Halifax, we won eight medals (four golds, two silvers, and two bronzes) and topped the medal table by country for the first time in history.
A year later, in Duisburg 2023, we exceeded that number with a total of 13 medals (three golds, five silvers, and five bronzes), finishing second in the medal standings, just behind the host country, tied in golds and silvers.
In that World Championship, we also qualified 15 out of the possible 18 Olympic spots.

Of the 7 boats we qualified for Paris 2024, 5 also made it to the podium. One that thrilled me the most was the Women’s K4, as it had been since 2007 that we last qualified this boat for the Olympic Games.

Another aspect that has deeply fulfilled me is witnessing the rise and shine of canoeing, both in men and women. Since David Cal and Sete Benavides, we hadn’t been at the top of the standings.
2022 was incredible for this category. In the Racice 2022 World Cup, our C2s took gold and silver; at the World Championships, Tano and Pablo claimed the world title, and at the European Championships, Joan and Adrián won the continental title. We secured the two biggest titles of that year with two different crews.
A similar situation occurred with the women: María won silver at the World Championships, and Antía took gold at the European Championships.
Another example of the strength of Spanish canoeing is our two consecutive world titles in Men’s C4.

To all these successes, we could add the achievements in senior European Championships, as well as all those in the junior and under-23 categories, but I would be going on too long.

Lastly, although the Olympic results from Paris 2024 may not have reflected our full potential, and we had to settle for 2 bronze medals and four performances very close to the podium (2 fourth places and 2 sixth places), I always prefer to focus on the positives.
These results were achieved across all 4 categories (Men’s and Women’s Kayak, Men’s and Women’s Canoe), which was one of the main goals of this project: to be strong in all categories.
Additionally, the emphasis on team boats in sprint paid off, and we now have more medallists than ever before (6), which also means more families, communities, clubs, and regions can celebrate these results.
Moreover, these two medals, along with the one earned in slalom, have helped canoeing become, as of today, the sport that has contributed the most Olympic medals to Spain.

In Paris 2024, we also achieved another historic milestone for our sport: Saúl Craviotto became the only Spanish athlete with 6 Olympic medals.
I remember driving with Saúl to the Casa de España of the Spanish Olympic Committee after winning his sixth Olympic medal. During an interview he was giving, he mentioned that he had enjoyed this Olympic cycle immensely, thanks to the efforts made by the federation to improve things.
I looked out the window. The sun was setting over Paris, and I was accompanying an Olympic legend. In that moment, I felt the satisfaction of having given everything I had for this team.

As I said at the beginning, I like to see life in cycles.
Life is dynamic, and as we grow as individuals, our goals, values, and motivations often evolve as well.
Now, I begin a new cycle, where I would like to dedicate more time to my family and bring to life many ideas and projects I have put on hold due to lack of time.
I am a canoeist, and I always will be. I don’t know what my connection to this team will be in the future, but what I do know is that I will always carry it in my heart, wherever I am.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. See you on the water.