Local paddlers take part in national competition
Local canoeists took part in the South African Canoe Marathon Championships that were held in St Francis Bay.
The South African Canoe Marathon Championships recently took place in St Francis Bay and as with most races, Dabulamanzi Canoe Club (Dabs) paddlers gave another stellar performance on the waters.
Paddlers such as Christie Mackenzie finished as the first senior lady in the senior ladies’ 21km race in a time of 02:18:00 and Bradley Boulle was third in the U23 men’s senior event in a time of 02:29:00.
Other paddlers took part in the doubles event (K2), such as Gabriella van Rooyen and Renschi van Zyl took fourth place in a time of 02:59:00 in their 21kms race. Fellow Dabs paddler Clinton Cook placed first in his K2 event where he paired with KwaZulu-Natal’s, Hamish Lovemore, winning in a time of 02:16:00. Wayne Jacobs and Brad Boulle also were part of the K2 event and placed third in 02:21:00.
In the Veteran Men age category, Wayne Jacobs was first place finisher in a time of 01:21:00 with Riccardo Talevi gliding into second in a time of 02:23:00.
In the Master age categories, Karen Field was the second female sub-veteran in 01:21:00 with Caroline Henderson as the first Great Grand Master Woman in 01:22:00.
The older men achievers from Dabs were Michael-John Robb as the second sub-veteran in 01:26:00, and in third place, in a time of 01:28:00, was Robert Crichton, while Phineas Zulu was 4th in 01:39:00.
The Great Grand Master Achiever (paddlers aged 60 +) from Dabs was well-known paddler Peter O’Connor who came second in a time of 01:10:00. There were no portages required for this age category.
Surfski results saw Clinton Cook double with Tracey van der Walt from the Eastern Cape, paddling as mixed doubles. Though they placed first in the mixed doubles, they placed seventh overall in a time of 01:33:00. Other doubles, Robert Crichton and Matthew Ballendon placed fifth in a time of 01:42:00 but were second in the sub-veteran age category.
There were also many young junior paddlers from local schools – who train at the Emmarentia-based club – who took part in the championships, including a relatively new learner in U10, Aara Mariam Judy, a Grade 3 learner from St Stithians Preparatory School who finished as second girl in her category at her first-ever national event.
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