The municipality of Yaiza has brought together the best underwater image takers from all over Spain between September 13 and 15 with the simultaneous celebration of three national championships: the premiere of the 'Spanish Inclusive Photography Championship', the 35th edition of the 'Spanish Underwater Photography Championship' and the 24th edition of the 'Spanish Underwater Video Championship'. A total of 79 underwater image specialists who scrutinized our seabed in four dives in search of the best images, "photographs and videos that will go around the world," says the Councilor for Sports Ángel Lago.
Nine were the participants "especially applauded" at the closing gala held on Saturday night in the tent of the Puerto Calero marina, where the names of the winners in the different categories of each of the championships at stake were announced, "people who with their strength and character teach us all to see life in a different way", highlighted the vice president of Fedecas, Ángel Botrán, referring to the participants in the inclusive modality.
“The participants are people who with their strength and character teach us all to see life in a different way”
Although for them "simply being here is already a prize", as pointed out by Luis María from Logroño, one of the participants, they were also "visibly excited and nervous" awaiting the verdict of the jury, which named Carlos López from Valencia as the first Spanish Champion of Inclusive Underwater Photography, who was accompanied by his assistant Vicente Javier Renovell, achieving a total of 106 points.
The second position, with 89 points, went to Ernesto Gregorio Collado from Gran Canaria and his companion Carlos Álvarez, and the third to Antonio Alejo Nieto from Tenerife together with IA Lasso, with 72 points. It should be noted that Alejo could not participate in the two dives of the second day or attend the awards ceremony due to an indisposition and it was his assistant, Lasso, who went up to the stage to collect the award.
In addition to the prizes in the different modalities (Fish, Close Up, Free, Thematic and Angular without model), the organization decided to award a "special prize to the best athlete" to Ismael Marcelino González, who despite having lost his camera under the sea in the second dive continued enjoying the tournament and taking, as he indicated, "the best snapshots stored in his mind".
For its part, 44 athletes participated in the Photography Championship, with representation from 14 Spanish federations, with Yeray Delgado from Tenerife being the one who won the trophy of Spanish champion 2023 with 102 points together with his assistant Abigail Martín, completing the podium Jesús Osorio together with Celia Padilla (73 points) and Rafael Fernández with Óscar Luna (67); while in the 'Video Championship' there were 26 athletes, from a total of 8 federations, with the Valencian team formed by Manuel Blanco and Iván Andreu winning in the film category with editing, and the Galicians Jorge Candan and Pilar Barros, in film without editing.
It should also be noted that, in the category of autonomous community, the Canary Islands took first place, followed by Andalusia and Castilla y León. Visibly excited, the vice president of Fedecas, Ángel Botrán, wanted to highlight the "great work of all the participants" whom he described as "artists" for a work that "does not have enough recognition". For his part, Luciano Cedrés, president of Fedecas, could not be present at the gala, but he did so through a video, in which he wanted to make special mention of this first edition of the inclusive championship, in addition to remembering José Luis González and Pedro Arroyo, deceased people linked to underwater photography.
The head of the Sports Area of Yaiza, Ángel Lago, participated in the awards ceremony together with the councilors Águeda Cedrés and Beatriz Vázquez, and wanted to thank the Puerto Calero and Marina Rubicón marinas, the federations, Turismo Lanzarote and, especially, the local diving centers, "for the effort made to support this event and that Yaiza and Lanzarote are seen in all corners of the world". Lago confirmed his commitment to "create synergies between tourism and sport" and concluded by stating that "we are going to try to bring the 'World Championship' to Lanzarote as well."
Environmental awareness day
Also on Saturday, but in the morning, Las Coloradas Beach, in Playa Blanca, hosted the inclusive and environmental awareness activities of the 'Diverse Diving for All Festival', which accompanies the inclusive championship and in which nearly "fifty people" participated in initiatives such as cleaning the beach and its surroundings, introductory dives, snorkeling, freediving, kayak rides and workshops. A day also intended to demonstrate that "we can all enjoy the seabed" because as some of the participants pointed out "the sea has no barriers, it is accessible, the problem is that they put barriers to reach it."
The day ended with a lunch of fraternization between the organization, championship participants and neighbors who took part in the festival activities. The Councilor for the Environment, Águeda Cedrés, satisfied with the development of the championship and the festival, praises "the courage and that desire to overcome the participants of the inclusive modality", pointing out that "they are an example to follow", and highlights that "making known the beauty of our seabed favors that both neighbors and visitors are more concerned about their care and protection."
“The Yaiza City Council will always be willing to collaborate with this event"
"Happy that this year a further step has been taken by joining the inclusive photography modality to the Spanish Championship, she assures that "the Yaiza City Council will always be willing to collaborate with this event so that everyone can know and enjoy our fabulous seabed."
