Paddlers in Gauteng, including members of the Victoria Lake Canoe Club (VLC), are getting organised and fit for the serious part of the canoeing race year.
The season, which begins in April, covers winter training but with the warmer spring weather, the paddlers are taking their fitness more seriously as they prepare for the upcoming A-Grade Fish River Canoe Marathon in October.
This will be followed by the FNB Dusi Canoe Marathon in February, next year.
The paddlers are building themselves up from 20km races to 80km races, until the 120km endurance event.
Watuni Canoe Club, based in Vanderbijlpark at the North West University campus, recently hosted a 20km river race from Henley on Klip, through Meyerton and some awesome whitewater rapids, with a good winter water level in Gauteng, to finish at Danie Maclean Park, downriver.
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The dark, gloomy, overcast and cold weather didn’t deter the paddlers who tackled the river with gusto and enthusiasm.
The top finishers were three young previously disadvantaged paddlers, namely Sibusiso Chwayi (u-23 Soweto Canoe Club), Richard Cele (VLC) and Katiso Hlahatsi (VLC), in a time of 01:23, 01:26 and 01:27, respectively.
Hlahatsi also finished a 30km race hosted by Florida Lake Canoe Club on the same river, on August 30, as he trains hard for the Fish River Canoe Marathon, which is South Africa’s K1 River Championships event.
He finished the race in 02:01.
VLC then hosted the Cake Race on the river on September 2, which saw the local paddlers working as marshals, sweeps and race organisers to ensure a safe, novice-friendly race for those paddlers needing qualifying points and experience before the Fish River Canoe Marathon.
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