Page 12 - summer book

San Felipe’s Olympic Duo

Mexico gets a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Rowing after the
pair Alexis López and Miguel Carballo won gold in the World Rowing Champion-
ship, in Belgrade, Serbia, defeating the teams from Belgium and New Zealand.
I sat down for a brief chat with Alexis and Miguel at the beautiful training facility
in San Felipe. They both started in their early teens, following in the footsteps
of their older sisters who were also rowing champions. Alexis won his first Gold
medal in 2015 at the world championship at the age of 17 Miguel is a couple of
years older than Alexis, and like Alex was a single boat competitor, but in 2021
after they placing second and third in the Pan American Games in Brazil, Alexis’s
mom suggested they team up in doubles, and that was the beginning of this dy-
namic duo. They have won numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in compe-
titions like Pan-American games, National Olympic Games Worldwide, but their
focus is on gold at the International Olympic games this summer. I asked how
the placement of a double team works, Miguel who is from La Paz explained,
that Alexis sits in the front (even though they row backwards) and sets the rhythm
and pace to be followed by him. His job is to keep up with Alexis, but also be the
lookout for their placement against other teams as Alexis concentrates on keep-
ing his pace constant or speeding up as called upon. So with that, I wish the best
to our Baja Boys in Paris 2024