RIO DE JANEIRO – Mexican rower Kenia Lechuga Alanis has emerged as one to watch in her debut Olympic Games, claiming one notable victory and winning praise from more famous fellow competitors.
On Tuesday she reached the semi-final of the women’s single sculls by securing third place behind New Zealander Emma Twigg and Czech veteran Miroslava Knapkova Topinkova.
She had already caught peoples’ eyes with a brave performance on Saturday in high winds and choppy waters, when she mastered the rough conditions to come in first in the heat.
In doing so she beat the gold medal favourite, Australia’s Kimberly Brennan, who struggled to reach the quarter-final qualifying spot.
Not bad for a 22-year-old student who comes from a country where rowing is an obscure sport and who has nothing in the way of sponsorship.
“I’m happy to be at the games and in the semi-final so that’s good,” she said after going through. “I want Mexico to see me because rowing is not so popular a sport there.”
Before the Games she had set her sights on making the top 12 in Rio.
That would be two notches up from her 14th placing in the World Cup in Switzerland this year. In 2015 she managed 12th place in the world championships in France and fourth at the Pan-American Games in Canada.
A native of Monterey, she took up rowing in 2007 and is now based in Mexico City.
After her win on Saturday, she said she had trained a lot on a reservoir and was used to rough conditions. She joked that she hoped the weather would stay bad.
Funding is difficult though, she said, and she relies a lot on her parents for support.
She said she admired the New Zealanders, and top Kiwi rower Twigg paid tribute to the Mexican on Tuesday.
“She set herself up really well in that heat [on Saturday] to get a favorable lane [for the quarter-final] and to her credit she raced really well today. Having role models like that in different countries is only a good thing,” Twigg said.
ANGUS MACSWAN
