Fox bags a first in Parys
With the infamous Dusi Canoe Marathon scheduled for mid-February, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban through the Valley of 1000 Hills, paddlers are enjoying the specific river races being hosted to accommodate their training.
With river levels rising thanks to great rainfall, and with the Vaal Barrage below the Vaal Dam releasing superb amounts of water, the recent race, on Saturday, January 14, was fast, exciting and exhilarating.
Starting at the Smilin’ Thru River holiday resort, seven kilometres up water from Parys, with a three kilometre portage around the weir on the entry to Parys, plus some 20 kilometres through the town to Hadeda Creek, with highly technical enjoyable rocky rapids similar to those found on the Dusi River, the race was perfect for the training paddlers.
It was hosted by Malcolm Stothard, of Set Kayaks/Paddles.
Benoni paddler Kirsty Fox was one of those on the water.
She has followed in her father Andre van der Merwe’s footsteps to become a river canoe racer and also marrying a canoeist, Clinton Fox.
Despite some time off from the sport, while studying and having a baby, Fox has not lost her talented river experience after finishing the race in 15th place overall in a time of two hours and 31 minutes as the first female contender.
She looked cheerful and managed the portages comfortably, taking the boat out of the water and running the portage distances as required.
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