Gauteng paddlers gather at Homestead

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for paddling as Gautengers lined up for a great two days of distance racing and long distance training, with portages to improve fitness and endurance.

With more than 100 boats on the water, starting with the K1 u-14 and upwards, at 8am, and finishing with the guppy paddlers (u-12 and downwards) Homestead Dam was busy.

The K1 (single boat) championships, to identify the best Gauteng team for the South African Marathon Championships, in KwaZulu-Natal, during June, were held on Saturday, with the doubles/K2 combinations on Sunday.

Local paddler Michael Stewart still proved his worth as a top, competitive paddler, finishing his 22km race for sub-master men in the top position, in a time of one hour and 44 minutes, while Tommy Booth, also from ERK, finished second in the senior age group, in a 29km race, in a time of two hours and 29 minutes.

Liam Stewart, u-16 paddler from Ashton International College, seems determined to follow in his father Michael’s paddling path and finished as the second u-16 boy, in one hour, 52 minutes, in his 22km race.

The races included running portages with each lap of the lake, which provided training for stamina, endurance and fitness.

The senior Stewart and Benonian Nicholas Weeks were the winners of the K2 event, although they struggled against the Dave Hamilton-Brown and Wayne Jacobs combination, who might have been stronger.

However , as they competed in different races and different age categories, and their race distances were also different, it makes it difficult to say who would have won had they done the same distance.The latter are sub-veterans and did the 22km, finishing in an hour and 37 minutes, having done a shorter race than Stewart/Weeks – the paddlers were neck-and-neck up until then.