Yesterday, the 18th of January, the young Madeiran athlete Tomás Lacerda made history in sport in Portugal, not once, but twice: he was the first Portuguese to take the podium of the mythical and prestigious international Stand Up Paddle event ‘GlaGla Race 2020’ and was the first Portuguese junior to win an international competition in this modality.
Competing with more than 600 athletes of 25 nationalities, in one of the most important and challenging winter SUP race events in the world, in the icy waters of Lake Annecy, in the French Alps, where the water temperature was around 6 ° C and the the air did not pass four degrees, the young athlete from Clube Naval do Funchal won the Race Technical competition, in the junior class, and was seventh in the general ranking (seniors) having been only 30 seconds from the first classified.
In the marathon of 14 km, the navalist was in the second place of the same step and in the 14th position of the general ranking. Extraordinary results for a young man who competes for the first time in an international competition in which the reputation is so high that simple participation is, in itself, prestigious for any athlete who participates in it.
Taken from Jornal Madeira.