Sandton paddlers received excellent results at the gruelling Trac 2020 Lowveld Croc River Race on 17 October.
Morningside resident Peter O’Connor completed the race in 02:54:00 and was the only great grandmaster finisher (over 70 years old). O’Connor remarked that this is his favourite race, despite the 800m portages (getting out the river and carrying the boat in the bush), despite having suffered from polio as a child, making walking distances very uncomfortable.
Hurlingham Manor resident Clive Evans completed the race successfully in 03:09:00 as the second sub grandmaster (55–60 years old).
Younger Sandton residents Alex Roberts finished the race in fourth place in 02:15:00 while Kelvin Byres completed the event in 02:26:00 while numerous others followed in their wake.
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 Trac Lowveld Crocodile River 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 broken boats to be 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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