Pupils prepare for inter-provincial canoe event
RANDPARK RIDGE – School children beat some paddlers in the Gauteng Canoe Union School race.
Gauteng Canoe Union School League hosts their first race of 2015 on 14 February at the Roodeplaat Dam.
Aspiring junior canoeists were preparing for their major prestigious inter-school event, the sprint races – an Olympic Discipline.
![Jaydon Hunt [59] came 3rd overall in U14.](https://www.citizen.co.za/randburg-sun/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/02/RS08AMKrow-_604085080.jpg)
They used the sprint lanes to practise for the SA Schools inter-provincial sprint competition which will be held there at end April.
Jaydon Hunt, wearing jersey No 59 of Rand Park Ridge Primary School, came third overall in U14.
Olivedale resident and pupil of Charter House, Matthew van der Merwe with jersey No 46, came first in U12.
Bonolo Mohapi was one of three U8 girls – the youngest girls in the race – living in Cosmos City.
She came first, although she had a bad start as the other girls went skew and got in her way, but she got away and won the races.
The sprint race distances include three separate races in each age group from U8 through to 18 years, 1 000m, 500m and 250m per the Olympic discipline requirement.
The points accumulate throughout the year and are credited to the individual, the school represented by the paddler and the club where the paddler trains, for the annual Gauteng Canoe Union prize-giving each year.
Choppy waves from a brisk wind made lining up and keeping boats straight in the lanes quite challenging – especially for the very young and tiny and new first- time racers.
