On Friday, July 3, the SLC kayak team travelled to Clarence for the annual Ash River Festival. With possible rain forecasted, it promised to be an interesting weekend with some epic paddling. Saturday morning was warmer than expected with some cloud cover but no rain.
Registration was at the Alles-verlooren rapid, where the teams were given race numbers, race plans, safety briefings and a rude awakening with some very cold water! There were two race types happening, namely; kayak racing and raft racing.
SLC had three teams in the raft race, consisting of at least one non-kayaker: Michaela Gosling with Jarryd Gosling, Herman Fourie with Josh Fairhead and Jonas Augustin with Ethan Hitchins.
In the kayak event, there were different categories according to skill level and age. In the Beginner Men’s class, SLC was represented by Jarryd Gosling, Ethan Hitchins and Josh Fairhead, who also came 3rd, 2nd and 1st respectively in the Junior U/16 class.
Danica Altenroxel and Helene Werhahn were the only two women in the competition, taking 1st and 2nd respectively in the Open Women and Junior Women.
Casper Venter won the Junior U/18 class and also competed in the Expert Men class. He did very well and improved his skill level substantially.
Mr Fullard managed to make the finals in the Expert class and finished 4th, racing down bridge-rapid from a ‘staggered mass start’.
On Sunday, the group joined the instructional social run where everyone paddles down the river and enjoys the time with friends and learns some valuable skills from the top paddlers. Casper Venter also packed in some ‘guts’ and ran bridge-rapid successfully.
Some learners from Maritzburg College joined SLC at this year’s event.
Big ‘thank yous’ are extended to the following: White Water Training for organising the event; the SLC parents who joined the trip, supporting the kids and helping to keep them warm and well fed; and to Petrus for driving long hours and keeping the team safe on the roads.
