Jenna wins bronze at World Champs
Local resident shines at ICF World Marathon Championships in Oklahoma.
BEFORE she left Durban for the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in the USA, Jenna Ward said her goal was to make the top five in the K1 competition. She did that in fine style winning bronze in the U23 women’s K1 race.
The Mt Edgecombe resident staged a stunning late charge in the women’s race that saw her rejoin a big group on the final lap. A well timed surge going into the last portage saw her put in first and lead the final half lap, and contest the dice for the line, and earn her first world championship medal.
“My training going into the world champs was a lot more intense, training with Lee McGregor and the MacSquad on Blue Lagoon,” said Ward.
“I can’t really describe what I am feeling. Even though it is only a bronze it is like a gold to me. In the bunch of six that I was in at the end I felt that my speed was the weakest. In those last 50 strokes in the end sprint I somehow managed to find something that allowed me to get up there and get the bronze.”
The title was won by the remarkable Hungarian, Tamara Takasc, despite erroneously taking a portage on the first lap, which gave her competitors a distinct advantage, and then falling out of her kayak at the put in on another portage.
PMB schoolboy Louis Hattingh staged a courageous fightback to rejoin the front bunch and claim a bronze medal in the U18 race. Former U23 world champion and Durban North resident, Brandon van der Walt finished ninth.
