QINGDAO, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's Italian head coach Francesco Cattaneo credited teamwork, mutual trust and his athletes' determination for the country's success at the 2026 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Qingdao, where the host nation won four gold, three silver and one bronze medal.
"When a foreign coach arrives in a new country, it is not always easy for everyone to embrace new ideas immediately," Cattaneo told Xinhua. "But in China, the athletes and coaching staff trusted the changes we introduced, and I believe that made a difference."
Known as Franco, Cattaneo is a former elite rower who won several medals at the World Rowing Championships before moving into coaching. He spent 12 years in a senior technical role with Italy's national rowing team and oversaw the country's beach sprint program from 2020 to 2024.
Cattaneo joined China's national team earlier this year, with the squad beginning preparations in late January. Training camps in Italy and Portugal formed part of a nearly 10-month buildup to the Qingdao championships.
Beach sprint rowing, which will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, combines running on sand with high-speed rowing in open water. Athletes sprint from the beach, board their boats, navigate around buoys and return to shore before racing across the finish line.
Unlike traditional flat-water rowing, where races typically last around six minutes, beach sprint events demand explosive efforts lasting just two and a half to three minutes.
"Being a good flat-water rower is not enough," Cattaneo said. "Athletes must also learn to run, jump into boats, navigate waves and make turns under pressure."
He said the months of preparation had helped China's athletes develop the physical and technical skills needed to compete at the highest level.
Those preparations were tested in Qingdao, where rough seas and changing weather conditions disrupted the competition schedule and forced organizers to squeeze much of the racing into two days.
"The athletes have followed our advice on how to deal with different situations," Cattaneo said. "I am very pleased with how they responded to the challenges."
Although he acknowledged that competing on familiar waters had given China an advantage, Cattaneo said the team's eight-medal haul had exceeded expectations.
"It confirms that we are on the right path," he said.
However, the Italian warned that success on home waters was no guarantee of Olympic glory, insisting that China still had considerable work to do before the Los Angeles Games.
"We can celebrate these medals for a few days, but then we must put them away and get straight back to work," he said. "The level we have reached will certainly not be enough in Los Angeles."
Cattaneo identified aerobic and anaerobic fitness, explosive power, boat handling and navigation as key areas for improvement, while stressing the importance of adapting to different sea conditions.
He noted that the relatively calm waters expected in Los Angeles could present a different challenge from the rough seas encountered in Qingdao.
"We must be able to make the boat go fast even when there are few waves," he said.
Beyond China's Olympic ambitions, Cattaneo hopes the discipline's inclusion in the Games will inspire more young people to take up the sport.
"It is a beautiful, exciting and very young discipline," he said. "Whether you come from traditional rowing or not, if you have speed, power and the ability to handle the sea, I would encourage you to give it a try." ■
