He is a rower and, he says, doesn’t know how to run. A priori, nothing worrying for a sport, rowing, which develops without leaving the water. Everything changes, however, in its modality, sea rowing, a discipline that, designed in 2011, will be Olympic for the first time in Los Angeles 2028. In it, Ander Martín (Torrevieja, 25 years old) starts on the sand, far from his boat. At the start signal, he runs to the shore, where he jumps into the boat and then rows out to sea to his buoy, 250 meters from the sand. After surrounding him, and without losing sight of his rival, he sinks the oar into the water until he returns to dry land, where, in ecstasy, he reruns the race on the sand before literally launching himself towards the finish line.
“Everything is very explosive from start to finish. For example, in the last races I exceeded 210 beats per minute, a little less than the 214 I recorded as a cadet or young man,” the Alican player, who won silver at the European Championships in October, told EL PAÍS, in which only a mistake when boarding the boat deprived him of continental glory in the men’s individual final (CM1x) against the British James Cox. “Despite the mistake, I thought I had it. I don’t think so It was very well seen on television, but it managed to get quite far away from me, and even so I was convinced that in the end I got very close, but I didn’t make it.”
European silver further fueled Martín’s hunger for the World Cup. running on the beach which takes place this weekend in Manavgat (Türkiye). “The objective, of course, is to go after the gold”, warns the native of Alicante before setting the fourth fastest time in the preliminary time trial, which establishes the order of the qualifying crosses that begin today. “After all, in the European Championship there are 60% or 70% of the best rowers on the planet, but in a World Cup there are very strong countries, such as China, Australia, New Zealand or the United States, which has the current world champion (Christopher Bak).”
Even so, this weekend’s result will not mark the course grade. Not at least for him. “One of the big goals I had set for this year and next is to specialize more in running, because I notice that I have deficiencies… We all ran very poorly!” he explains with a laugh. “It’s true that it’s not the bulk of the race, so we only work one or two days a week, but it seems very important. In the end I feel like I have a lot of strength and in the water I can push with it, but the running technique is something I still have to perfect a lot.
“In the World Cup, for example, the differences will be minimal”, explains Martín, a calculator also far from the sea. “Between the world champion and eighth place there is still a difference of two seconds, no more. And that, in a race like ours, which only lasts two and a half minutes, is very little.
Something similar will happen in Los Angeles, where the running on the beach o Sea rowing will debut as an Olympic sport in the summer of 2028. “We are still waiting to find out what the format will be like”, explains Martín. Everything indicates that the competition will be held over just two days, which would force rowers to row four or five times a day. “To give you an idea, at the moment we rarely do more than two in the same day. Recovery, therefore, will be essential. Not only physical, but also mental. Every detail will be fundamental.”
The objective, however, seems clear. “Winning Olympic gold would be fulfilling a vision that has been growing within me for a long time. It’s something I have difficulty explaining, but that’s how I feel”, he says. “For me, simply being able to work towards this and having this as a goal is already winning. But at this point I want more. I’m going to leave everything, 200% or 300%, to this task. If they let me do as I’ve been doing up until now, they give us the resources and, knock on wood, my health respects me, I think it’s not crazy to think that the dream of Olympic gold could become a reality.”
Martín also trains his rivals
Born in La Mata, a coastal district north of Torrevieja, Martín argues that there are no beaches, for rowing or leisure, like those on the coast of Alicante. Therefore, last year a business idea that emerged years ago in Ireland crystallized. “My partner (Eimear McCormack) gave me the push I needed to make something I had envisioned for a long time a reality,” he says. This is how he created the Beach Sprint Academy in Torrevieja, a kind of high-performance center where the best rowers in the world come to train in “unique” conditions of water, wind and sun.
“The environment is really wonderful to train in. Not only the climate, but also the location of the port allows all rowers who come from abroad to walk anywhere”, he summarizes with a chest full of pride. “This year we didn’t want to take too many (training) groups and we prioritized quality over quantity. We want to work well and for those who come to notice.”
“Coincidences of life, the boy who won the European Championship for me last month (British James Cox) has been training with me at the Academy”, concludes Martín, delighted to combine the high competitive demands with a personal project so linked to his roots. “In the end, my medium-term objective is to consolidate the Academy as a reference for maritime rowing.”
While this purpose arrives, or not, Spain discovers itself as one of the undisputed dominators of the running on the beach. “Since 2021 we have won almost all the international medal tables. Only last year’s medal failed, when we came in third”, says Martín, standard bearer of the national team alongside Adrián Miramón, Teresa Díaz and Esther Briz. “Now it’s up to us to live up to expectations, maintain ourselves and demonstrate why Spain is a powerhouse in this sport.”
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