Benonian Weeks represents SA in Portugal at Canoe Sprint World Championships

Farrarmere resident and Ekurhuleni Kayak Club (ERK) member Nicholas Weeks turned out in South African colours recently at the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Canoe Sprint World Championships in Portugal.

The former Benoni High School learner raced in the K2 (double kayak) 200m and K4 (four-man kayak) 500m events at the world championship.

It was a relatively successful K2 event for Weeks and his partner, David Rodrigues, who finished 10th overall, just missing out on the A-final by a matter of split seconds.

“It was a tester event to see where we stand in the world and where we need to improve ahead of the qualifiers for the Olympics at the same event next year,” said Weeks.

“It was a pretty good result in the K2 event because this is the first time we have competed at a senior world championship whereas previously we had only been racing in the age categories (u-18 and u-23) so we didn’t really get the chance to mix it with the best paddlers in the world.”

At the championships, paddlers (in nine lanes) try to out-sprint their opponents in heats, then move on to a semi-final and then a final.

“The A-final is always the target to try and make, especially for us smaller countries.

“In Europe, the big countries have a lot of funding and get a lot more support.

“They have high standards so it’s great to be able to go up against them.

“It was a little bit frustrating to miss out on the A-final, but, at the same time, we are quite happy to have got so close to the guys who are at the top of our sport.”

Now, the 25-year-old paddler will be working towards those Olympic qualifiers in Szeged, Hungary, next year.

“Szeged is probably the world capital of canoeing,” added Weeks.

“In Hungary, canoeing is as big as rugby is in South Africa.

“The guys in Hungary have their pictures on billboards and on buses.

“They get paid full salaries and are the heroes of the country.

“I’m quite excited to race there in front of thousands of spectators.

“This year was a build-up and now we know what we need to do to qualify for the Olympics.”

Weeks first hopped into a canoe when he was about six or seven years old, but stopped paddling for a while until he joined the Sea Scouts where they played a bit of canoe polo.

“Towards the end of high school, I decided to take on canoeing as a serious sport.

“I started training every day and joined up with a group of older guys who coached me and showed me the ropes.

“It takes a while for your body to develop to become good at paddling as opposed to some sports like gymnastics for example where you get young athletes doing really well at the Olympics.

“With paddling that’s not really the case, especially with sprinting, because you need time for your body to develop.

“Olympic gold medals are generally won by guys in their late 20’s or in their 30’s.”

Weeks said in South Africa marathon paddling is bigger due to the popularity of the Dusi and Fish River races, but added sprinting is on the way up.

“There is a generation of sprinters coming through who are becoming very competitive on the international scene.”

Weeks encouraged anyone interested in paddling to visit ERK at their Homestead Dam base in Ebenezer Street on Wednesdays after 5pm when the club hosts time trials where potential members can meet the chairperson and secretary and get more information.

CLICK HERE for a link to WATCH the Benonian in action.

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