Local paddlers conquer the Croc River
The race only accommodates K1 kayaks as the river flows fast and narrow.
Local paddlers Robert Crighton and Michael John Robb from Craighall Park shone at the gruelling Trac 2020 Lowveld Croc River Race on 17 October.
Crighton finished the race in 02:18:00 and came second in the senior age category followed by Robb who finished third in the same category in 02:27:00.
The winner of the Senior Category Race and the overall winner was Sowetan paddler Siseko Ntondini who trains at Emmarentia Dam. He completed the race in 02:11:00. Ntondini was sponsored by the Soweto Canoe and Recreation Club and Adreach based in Rosebank.
The Lowveld Crocodile River is a name that prickles the hair on any canoeists head, not necessarily because of the occasional migrating hippo but because it is one of the more challenging, technically demanding, boat-breaking rivers in South Africa.
The race is hosted by local canoeists based in Mpumalanga each year covering a 33km stretch of fast-flowing river with winding corners, strewn with rocks, weirs and islands. Many a paddler has walked out through the bush with a broken boat which is salvaged by the Lowveld sweeps, picking up the tattered bits and pieces along the way.
The race only accommodates K1 kayaks as the river flows fast and narrow.
This year’s event saw entrants from all arenas of canoeists – the young, the inexperienced, the very experienced and the old – all looking for a special challenge.
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