Hayley brings experience to the table for world champs
This is Nixon's third time being selected for SA at the World Marathon Championships.
DURBAN North paddler, Hayley Nixon is no stranger to accolades, in the last two years she has won four major national and international races, including The Perth Doctor, The Cape Point Challenge and the Nelo Summer Challenge in Portugal. Now the Durban North resident has been selected for the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Canoe Marathon World Championships in Pietermaritzburg.
Nixon will be partnering with Michelle Burn (who won the Durban Downind and the Mauritius Ocean Classic) in the K2 race at the champs, a challenge she is relishing.
The duo recently finished third at the SA Flatwater Marathon Canoeing Championships, which would normally place the team outside the qualifying position, however in this instance, so impressive was the duo’s performance that the selectors opted to include the experienced pair in the SA team.
“We are both ecstatic with making the team. Traditionally the crews select themselves, as the top two go through. I’ve never been selected like this before but it’s great and an honour to make the team again. We were leading in the K2 race and I’ve got to take my hat off to Jenna and Nikki (the winners of the race) who made it count in the end. Near the end of the race I decided to make an aggressive move in one of the last portages hoping to give Michelle and I a better chance at getting away and it’s a risk you take.
“However, we ended up colliding with another crew and falling out, which cost us in the end. We didn’t have a faultless race but we had an amazing race. Given how consistent we were, we are so grateful to be selected for the team. We are definitely going to fight for a position at the champs,” she said.
This is Nixon’s third time being selected for SA at the World Marathon Championships. She has also been selected for the SA team for the upcoming Surfski World Champs.
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