The Kayak Clube Castores do Arade was represented by Diogo Araújo and Norberto Mourão at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, held in Poznań, Poland, between 26 and 30 August. Diogo Araújo competed for Cape Verde, while Norberto Mourão represented the Portuguese National Team, accompanied by coach Ivo Quendera, also affiliated with the Algarve club.
Diogo Araújo took part in the K1 200, K1 500, K1 1000 and K1 5000 metres events. In the Olympic distance of 1000 metres, he finished his heat in fifth place, with a time of 4:14.84, missing out on a place in the semi-finals by one position. In comparison with the other African competitors, he achieved the second best result in K1 1000 metres, finishing behind South African Hamish Lovemore and ahead of athletes from Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Angola. In the K1 5000 metres, he finished in 23rd place overall, again being the second highest-ranked African athlete.
Norberto Mourão competed for the Portuguese National Team in the VL2 200 metres paracanoe event, finishing the final in fourth place. The club considers that the result left the athlete very close to the world podium and confirmed his place among the best international athletes in the sport.
The Kayak Clube Castores do Arade, based in Lagoa, considered that the results represent a source of pride for the club and highlighted the work developed in the areas of training, elite competition and paracanoeing. The Lagoa Municipal Council was also thanked for its support for the development of sporting activity and canoeing in the municipality.
