Lucky number 13 for McGregor at Berg River Canoe Marathon
Hank McGregor also claimed the South African K1 River Marathon title.
DEFENDING champion Hank McGregor cruised home to win the final stage and wrap up his 13th Berg River Canoe Marathon title recently, and with it claim the 2023 South African K1 River Marathon title.
McGregor was always the man to beat, and the only times it seemed he was not on course for victory was before his last-minute entry had been submitted, and a short period on stage two when he was uncharacteristically making a series of mistakes in the tree-lined channels.
However, the Durban canoeing superstar has not won 11 world titles without overcoming some adversity along the way, so it was no surprise McGregor went on to recover from his early issues on Day 2 and win the stage by over two minutes, which in turn laid the foundation for his overall victory.
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On Saturday, he was appropriately the first across the line at Velddrif after the final stage, with young fellow KwaZulu-Natal paddler, Jeremy Maher, finishing 19 seconds behind to claim second overall after a tight race-long battle with the Eastern Cape’s Tom Lovemore, who ended up just over a minute farther back on the stage and third overall.
In the women’s race, the status quo from all week was maintained on the final day with Christy Shrimpton leading Bianca Beavitt into Velddrif while Ansune Basson ended third.
It was a double-double for Shrimpton as she not only claimed the overall and U23 Berg River Marathon titles, but she also picked up the corresponding South African K1 River Marathon titles, as well.
Possibly the most popular finisher at Velddrif on Saturday was 84-year-old Jannie Malherbe. The 1963, 64 and 65 champion may have been one of the final paddlers to complete the 2023 race, but by finishing, he became just the second paddler ever to complete 50 Berg River Marathons.
The only person to have finished more Bergs is Giel van Deventer who completed 51. The fact Malherbe was able to reach his milestone this year was made all the more poignant by the fact this was the first Berg to be held since Van Deventer tragically passed away last year.
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