FREEDOM Day gave the Gauteng new paddlers an opportunity to practise their newly acquired skills at their first-ever river race.
It was a warm and pleasant day for new paddlers to gain their first point for A-grade status when Victoria Lake Canoe Club hosted the Novice Cake where the first finishing novices won a specially baked cake as their prize.
While Ryan Ziervogel from Brackendowns, and Marais Viljoen learner, is not a new paddler and has previously partnered with his father or sister in races, he enjoyed his challenges in a single canoe. The race started in Henley on Klip at the Makery Restaurant, at Twin Rivers Estates, and traversed through to the Danie Maclean Park in Meyerton, a distance of some 15km, which is manageable for new paddlers starting out on their challenging adventures.
Water levels are also currently manageable, not too high or too fast, nor too low and technical – ideal for new paddlers to gain experience.
Young Ziervogel, also a member of the Johannesburg Canoe Club based at Wemmer Pan, finished as the fifth K1 (single canoe) in a time of 1:10.
