A number of local residents took part in the South African Canoe Marathon Championships in St Francis Bay recently.
K1 (single kayak) field of paddlers representing all provinces took place on 11 October while the doubles event (K2 kayaks) raced on 12 October in the view of the South African National Surfski Championships. Clinton Cook, who partnered with Wayne Jacobs from Emmarentia-based Dabulamanzi Canoe Club, were recognised as Gauteng’s senior paddlers. In the K2 doubles event, the pair clinched third place at 02:08:00. Sarah Evans of Sandton was the second sub master age category finisher in her distance, finishing in 01:59:00 while Dreyer was the first veteran female finisher in 02:28:00 and Henderson was third in the grand master category in 01:41:00. Symons finished as the third sub master finisher in 02:05:00.
A number of local residents including Caroline Henderson, Luke Symons and Jodi Dreyer also took part in the event. The Gauteng team made their presence known with a number of participants achieving podium positions in all categories from junior league youth U12 to great-grand masters (over 65). The senior competitive race course is traditionally a 21km course with a number of short portages, for U18 and older seniors, however, the distances are less for the younger paddlers, older veterans and grand masters.
