THE recent ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Brandeburg, Germany, provided the ideal platform for South African paddlers to thrive on the international stage, and Elite Athlete Development Programme (EADP) athletes shone as they scooped six of the medals won by Team South Africa.
South African paddlers have traditionally achieved their best international canoeing results at the flat-water marathon showpiece and the 2016 haul was no different with the legendary Hank McGregor leading the way.
McGregor repeated his feat of 2014 where he won both the men’s K1 and K2 titles however the EADP’s own Andy Birkett also made it a double podium in the men’s racing when he finished behind McGregor in the K1 race to take silver and along with K2 partner and fellow EADP star Louis Hattingh wrapped up the bronze medal in the doubles race.
Another young paddler who came to the fore at the world championships was Kyeta Purchase. The young Durban schoolgirl surprised many in 2015 when she nearly raced on to the U18 girls K1 podium however she did that in 2016 taking the bronze medal in the K1 bout. The biggest surprise came when she and U23 K2 partner and fellow EADP athlete Jenna Ward raced to a remarkable second in the senior ladies K2 race on the final Sunday of competition at the World Marathon Championships.
“The K2 was the biggest race for us and we knew that we had a chance but we went into the race happy to settle for a lower position but as the race went on we realised that we were strong enough to compete. We were fit enough and powerful enough to take on the top K2 crews and we shocked ourselves when we finished in second place against the best women in the world. It was really a justification of all the hard work that we had put in and to come away with a silver medal in the K2 race was incredible for both of us!” a satisfied Purchase commented.
