Through different regional athletes, the discipline of extreme kayaking on the Baker River and its tributaries has been systematically positioning itself nationally and globally.  With outstanding participation in various tournaments, several young people from Aysén, mainly from Cochrane, have obtained important awards.  In addition to this, tournaments are held every year in the region to take advantage of the characteristics of the many rivers that cross the beautiful landscapes of Patagonia.

 

Today it is the turn of Isaura Martínez Rojas (18), a competitor who is in Spain participating in expeditions with world-renowned exponents of this water sport.

 

This was the case of the recent descent of the Noguera Pallaresa, a river that rises in the Pyrenees and flows into the Segre and the latter into the Ebro. The course is renowned for the quality of its waters for rafting and kayaking.  

 

Isaura participated in mid-July in an expedition through this basin with the extreme kayaking world champion, Gerd Serrasolses.

 

In a record of the Catalan television CCMA she gives an account of the trip.  

 

"I am 18 years old and I come from Chile, exactly from Patagonia, from the small town of Cochrane.  Thanks to the kayak I began to know this whole world, to travel, to meet people" the young woman is heard in the video.  

 

 

 

 

In a later dialogue, she explained that "during the trip we passed through three reservoirs.  And that was what impacted me the most because in Chile I had never paddled in a dammed river, which has effects on the flora and fauna, and also on a social level."

 

About his activities he said that "one of the reasons why I wanted to come here to Europe is to see kayaking from outside Chile.  There is a lot of support here, they have a slalom course in the same town, which is the capital of kayaking where children learn from the age of 8."

 

Despite this, she made the counterpoint on the concept of "evolution" in the discipline, considering that an important part of the tributaries of the Noguera Pallaresa have dams.

 

Isaura Martínez hopes to continue specializing in the discipline, waiting for institutional and private support that will allow her to participate in tournaments to continue advancing in her national and international kayaking positioning.