A dozen young athletes who live and train in the lakeside area were called up to the winners’ podium at Mexico’s 2012 Youth Olympics.
The Jalisco sailing team, trained at Chapala’s Club de Yates, amassed 36 medals: eight gold, 12 silver and 16 bronze. The competition was held May 13 to 15 in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit.
Elena Oetling Ramirez, 19, from San Antonio Tlayacapan and Alvaro Vasquez Flores, a Guadalajara fourth-grader, stood out as the star performers, capturing four gold medals each.
Other medal winners who honed their skills in Lake Chapala’s waters are Antje Victoria Dittmar Penski, Maria Perez Vazquez Aldana, Esteban Garcia Vizacaino, Santiago Garcia Vizacaino, Yanic Arno Gentry Torfer, Mateo Michel Alatorre Alejandro Perez Ontiveros, and Leopoldo Seifert Perez Vargas. The young sailors far surpassed the expectations of their trainer Tito Perez del Castillo, who predicted a modest 10-medal haul in a profile in the Reporter’s April 14 edition.Another local champ is 15-year-old Chapala native Andrea Guadalupe Castro Buenrostro, who brought home gold from the mountain bike racing competition held May 10 in Amozoc, Puebla.
Jalisco ranked first in the overall 2012 medal count winning 197 gold, 218 silver and 195 bronze medals.