Santiago Varela is the course builder for the upcoming CHIO Rotterdam and the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He is a level 4 course builder (highest level) but has barely been able to build 5* showjumping courses recently. So he has been waiting for almost two years but is still very positive. We talk to him about the past year and his planning for the coming time.
In 2011 Santiago Varela was course builder for the first time at CHIO Rotterdam. "Louis Konickx had invited me to 'his' show. Louis is a real gentleman in our sport. In the past ten years Louis and I have become good friends and we have worked together very often as course builders and technical delegates. Also this Olympic year we are working together again. This will be my third time in Rotterdam, I was there before in 2001 and 2014. I am very happy that CHIO is coming now because it is my last show before the Olympics start."
We asked Santiago what impact the pandemic has had for him. "I had my last competition in Mexico at the beginning of 2020 and from that moment suddenly everything was cancelled. I came home and told my family to stay calm because we didn't know what was going to happen. And that is what we did. We are a close family, we started working from home, we adopted a new routine and used our time to learn a lot. That worked well. I started this new year with good expectations but then we also got the Rhino virus. So again I had to stay calm and wait to see what would happen. But luckily... recently I was allowed to build in Oliva, Prague and Madrid and now I may go to Rotterdam soon.
Equestrian sport is not mathematics
Our sport is not mathematics, because we work with horses everything is different. Some horses miss the competition rhythm but I am convinced that the top riders like Steve Guerdat, Scott Brash know what they are doing and handle the situation correctly.
Is there anything Santiago will do differently after the long lockdown period? "Not really. My colleagues and I have our own ideas and we stick to them. We stick to the rules and focus on the technical side of the courses. We are all people who love horses, but we are also just people. The good thing about the pandemic is that we had time to watch videos and results and discuss them with each other. Rotterdam is a selection moment and therefore an important moment for the riders. A good reason not to make very big changes."
After Rotterdam and Tokyo, Santiago Varela will build the Longines FEI Nations Cup Jumping Final in Barcelona. "I am a positive person and am looking forward to the final. You can say that we have only had a few qualifiers this year (in Europe: Sankt Gallen, Sopot, La Baule and Rotterdam) while in a normal year we have 29 worldwide. I would rather say we have four qualifiers and a final this year, which is 500% more than a year ago!"
Source: CHIO Rotterdam