Louis and Donna take gold at Sprint Champs
Dozens of South Africa's top paddlers descended on Shongweni Dam to compete in the exciting South African Sprint Championships recently.
DONNA Hutton and Louis Hattingh claimed the top spots at the 2017 South African Sprint Canoe Championships at Shongweni Dam recently.
The event boasted the likes of Bridgitte Hartley, Chrisjan Coetzee, Stuart Maclaren and Melanie van Niekerk, all paddlers who have represented South Africa in various disciplines.
Although Bridgitte’s sprinting pedigree is unmatched in South Africa, the Olympic bronze medalist opted out of paddling her signature 500m K1 event to focus more on the longer distance events with an eye on the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in September.
She teamed up with the U23 star, Kyeta Purchase, and won the 500m K2 event, which put them in contention for a spot in the South African team which will compete in the World Championships in the Czech Republic later this year.
The performance of the competition came from Donna Hutton who showed her dominance as she finished with two wins, a second and a third in the K1 events.
Hutton’s impressive efforts were highlighted by the fact that she did not compete in any K2 events, yet she still finished with the highest number of points in the women’s competition.
Two male paddlers were neck in neck for the top spot but it was the experienced Louis Hattingh who claimed the overall spoils ahead of Stuart Maclaren by two-and-a-half points.
However, Stuart was in top form in the K2 events where he came out on top in all four of the events, the 5000m, 1000m, 500m and 200m. He had three different partners for the four races, partnering twice with Chrisjan Coetzee to win the 500m and 200m K2 events.
Caitlin and Christie Mackenzie battled it out for the junior girl’s honours. Eventually it was Caitlin who beat Christie to the line by four points. Alex Masina powered his way to the U18 boys’ title ahead of Callum Davis and Hamish Lovemore. Masina racked up 92.5 points as opposed to 50 from Davis and 49.5 from Lovemore.
South African Sprint Canoe Championships results:
Senior men:
1. Louis Hattingh (U23) – 74
2. Stu Maclaren – 72.5
3. Chrisjan Coetzee – 44.5
4. Jarryd Gibson (U23) – 44
5. Stuart Bristow (U23) – 42
Senior women:
1. Donna Hutton (U23) – 48
2. Kyeta Purchase (U23) – 34.5
3. Melanie van Niekerk – 32
4. Esti van Tonder – 30
5. Melissa van Rooyen 22.5
U23 men:
1. Louis Hattingh – 77
2. Stuart Bristow – 48
3. Jarryd Gibson – 48
4. Msawenkosi Mtolo – 32
5. Brandon Orpwood – 31
U23 women:
1. Donna Hutton – 26
2. Kyeta Purchase – 17.5
3. Kayla de Beer – 8
U18 boys:
1. Alex Masina – 92.5
2. Callum Davis – 50
3. Hamish Lovemore – 49.5
U18 girls:
1. Caitlin Mackenzie – 48
2. Christie Mackenzie – 44
3. Katie Croudace – 32
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