Over 40 years of paddling helped Meyer Steyn finish the Klip River Canoe Race as the first Grand Master and sixth overall paddler, recently.
The Linden resident and longest-standing member of the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club, said the race was technically challenging but still manageable for the veteran paddler. “A Grand Master is a canoeist between 60 and 65 years old,” Steyn explained.
So how does he do it?
“In order to gain experience and be able to tackle the tough rapids, you need experience on as many different rivers and rapids as possible,” he said.
The Klip River race, a 34km race in Vereeniging, helped Steyn prepare for the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon in October, one of the longest canoe marathons in South Africa. He hopes to be placed among the top five in his age category this year.
As for the Klip River Race, Steyn said he enjoyed the rapids and even decided to paddle through one of the more daunting rapids of the day. Most participants decided to portage around it. “To portage is to climb out of your boat and carry it around an obstacle. There were about eight portages in the race,” he said.
Jennie Dallas, public relations manager for the Gauteng Canoe Union , said the bitter cold sweeping through the province, as well as the highly technical and treacherous rapids on that section of the river made it a tough race. “It was a very small field that started, and after some cold, exhausted paddlers withdrew, as well as a couple with boat damage, only 20 boats finished the difficult race,” she said. Steyn completed the race in a time of 02:55:00.
“He is an experienced river paddler who was not daunted by the treacherous, scary and turbulent rapids as well as the technically difficult course,” Dallas said.
Details: Dabulamanzi Canoe Club, 011 486 0979.
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