Garda Rowing Championship Final: Battle for Bandiera del Lago 2000
Last event of the Garda rowing championship. This evening, in the waters in front of Lungolago Mazzini, the final race with the tenth regatta of the season for the awarding of the Bandiera del lago 2000.
Top favorite Ichtya, the white-black-colored boat from the local team, is alone at the top of the standings with a two-point lead over the Bardolino and Garda boats. The quartet from Arilice, composed of Paolo Tacconi, Massimo Raimondi, Osvaldo, and Stefano Mazzurega, only needs a second place to repeat last year’s success and win the Millennium trophy in the “azure Garda” colors.
But the Arilice rowing team is in great shape and aims to finish in style as they did last year. “That’s our goal,” says Osvaldo Mazzurega without false modesty, “to secure our seventh championship victory. We feel particularly strong after what we were able to show last Saturday in Bardolino, and barring any mishaps, we will leave nothing unattempted to prove we deserve this Bandiera.”
Cheering points and rivals on the field
Every weekend, throughout an entire summer, the competition has captured the attention of the Gardesano community that revolves around this sport, with strong folkloric and touristic appeals. There is no doubt that the last race will also offer stadium-like cheer moments.
Besides the lead, there’s also the honorable second place up for grabs, with Garda and Bardolino rowers competing for the middle step of the podium. The rivalry between the two teams is well known, but it heated up after last Saturday’s race in Bardolino waters, where their boats are now tied in the standings.
“We will try not to repeat last week’s mistake,” points out Garda’s boat captain, Alberto Malfer. “It will be tough, but we will give our all.”
The same ambitions are held by the Bardolino paddlers, who are however discreet about predictions. The sporting director, Luciano Montresor, is particularly confident of overtaking. “Much will depend on which lane we race in,” he clarifies, “but the goal is to place second overall, like last year.”
The competing boats and participating teams
Such battle intentions come from a trio of boats leading the charge, which are sure to stir the fans of the Veronese rowing clubs. Right from the first race with the starting buoy, along with Lacisium, the boat with the only female representative Claudia Todesco at the oars, Betty and Torricella from Cassone, and Sebina from Lake Iseo.
Three other Verona-based boats will participate in the next race: Birba from Lazise, Preonda from Bardolino, and Adelaide from Garda, who will have to defend against advances from Benacense from Toscolano-Maderno.
Four Lombard boats in the third heat, with Clusanina del Sebino determined not to let the fourth place in the final standings slip away. The boat will be on alert to fend off attacks from Sirenetta of Gardone, Serenissima of Salò, and Villanella of Gargnano.
Awards and sponsors
At the end of the event, there will be a prize-giving ceremony for the crews, celebrating a fiercely contested championship right until the final stroke. The event is sponsored by the assessorato allo Sport of the Veneto Region, the Province of Brescia, the Community Mountain Parco Alto Garda Bresciano, and supported by the Community of Garda, involved both in the secretarial sector and in coordinating and broadcasting what happened over the course of the ten races held along the shores of Garda and Lake Iseo.