Ziervogel rows to win in Hungary

MORGAN Ziervogel is currently in Hungary about to compete at the 2018 International Canoe Federation (ICF) junior and u-23 Sprint World Championship.

The championships are is underway in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from July 26 to 29 and the South African squad of nine men and women are eyeing out some strong performances against the world’s best.

Ziervogel will be taking on the full field in the u-23 1 000m K1 race.

The task is a daunting one for the South African squad who very rarely see competition as strong as the competition that they will come up against this week. They will, however, gain as much experience as possible for the first-timers and building on previous experience for the others will be crucial.

Donna Hutton will be one of the old hands in the squad and she produced a bit of history in 2016 when she qualified for both the 200m and 500m A Finals at the Junior World Championships.

Hutton will be in her second year of u-23 this year and will be hoping to make her mark in the 200m K1 and the 500m K1.

The other returning face is David Rodrigues. The Gauteng man from Dabulamanzi will be racing in the u-23 200m K1 race and is hoping that he can qualify for an A Final.

There are scores of u-18 paddlers taking on the challenge this year with the likes of Jonathan Jooste and Jordy Malherbe leading the boys and Jackie van der Westhuyzen, Kate Croudace, Caroline van der Linde and Keegan Kieser in the girls’ races.

Jooste will be racing in the 200m K1 race while Malherbe will take part in the 1 000m K1 and 500m K1. Both are hoping for A Finals. Malherbe is only 15 years old and is using the event to gain as much experience as possible.

Croudace will be taking on the longer race with her eyes set on an A Final in the u-18 Girls 1 000m K1, while van der Linde is also hoping for an A Final in the u-18 Girls 200m K1.

There will only be one K2 boat taking part and that will feature Keegan Kieser and Jackie van der Westhuyzen.

The pair will be racing in the u-18 500m race and van der Westhuyzen will also be paddling in the 500m K1 event.

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