Victoria Lake Canoe Club (VLC) hosted a race at Klip River on Saturday.
The race, which started at Henley-on-Klip and finished at Meyerton’s Danie Maclean Park, was specifically aimed at novice paddlers.
It was relatively short, at under 15km, in order to encourage the novices to test their new paddling skills while their mistakes still allow some swims.
The race also provided them with points towards A Grade status, to be allowed to do major river races later in the year.
While marshals on the river are in positions for potential assistance regarding safety, they are also particularly helpful this time of the year with novices who have to swim, helping to catch their boats and paddles before they are washed down the river in the fast flowing current.
This is not usually a task expected of the marshals as paddlers are required to prove their competency in a proficiency test prior to participating in the river races and have to demonstrate this ability, nevertheless their reactions are still slow and mistakes unexpected so the assistance is appreciated and the VLC marshals were kept busy at specific tricky rapids.
Among the novice finishers from VLC, at their first race of the new river racing season, was Edenvale’s Martin Thirlwell with his friend and novice partner Marius Croucamp, who shot the treacherous broken weir rapid between large tree trunks like pro’s, avoiding a time consuming swim, to finish the race in one hour 11 minutes to place second in the veteran age group and as the seventh double.
Highly experienced river racer Roy Clegg partnered up with fellow club member and novice river paddler Theresa Welsh from Germiston for her first race, and finished right after the novice pair in one hour 12 minutes as the first mixed double pair (male/female), and as the third veteran age group and eighth double.
Another well experienced river racer, Greg Smith, also partnered up with friend and novice fellow club member Terrie-Sue Cave from Germiston to finish in second position in the sub-veterans category in a time of one hour 13 minutes.
The winning double was manned by VLC’s u-23 development youth crew, Colin Ledwaba and Katiso Hlahatsi, in a time of one hour five minutes.
They were also the first u-23 team, while the development youth team of Buti Lamola and Kanyisa Mancoba finished fifth overall, and as the first u-18 team in one hour 10 minutes – at their second ever canoe river race.
With glorious weather and fun giveaway prizes for novices, great food and drinks at the end, the race was a great success, boding well for the local club, based in Germiston, for the upcoming winter months as paddlers train towards their first A Grade major river races.
Other VLC articles:
VLC launches a novice programme
