Paddlers excel in Cradock
Canoeists enjoyed exciting Hansa Fish River Marathon .
Several canoeists from the Florida Lake Canoe Club (FLCC) enjoyed the exciting adrenalin-charged two-day 80km Hansa Fish River Marathon held recently in Cradock. Guy Crichton and Macdonald Nkosi made up the first FLCC team to cross the finish-line, in a time of 6 hours, 7 minutes. This was Crichton’s first ever A Grade river race.
FLCC’s junior canoeists, Tristan Trican and Moses Nghomane, who were also competing in the river race for the first time, finished in 6 hours and 37 minutes. Bertie Baard, with the help of Craig Smith and Jennie Dallas, competed in the K3 division and finished in 7 hours 27 minutes, while Patrick Thomas and John Wernick, who participated in the over-50 years Master age group finished in 7 hours and 56 minutes.
The race took place from Grassridge Dam and had a guaranteed water release as the dam sends water down-river for a couple of weeks in October to assist farmers who fill their dams and use the water for the planting season in Spring. It is usually the first A Grade white-water river that Gauteng paddlers take on after learning on the limited Highveld rivers at low winter levels.
The Gauteng Canoe Union’s Jennie Dallas said the Marathon has huge, fast, steep chutes, as well as enormous wave trains and massive rapids. “The boys loved every minute and mastered every rapid without problems, not even a swim. They were instructed not to shoot Keith’s rapid, which is right at the beginning of the race, because of the high number of boats that break there,” she said.
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