Up a creek with a paddle

Roodt participated in the kayak 1 (K1) single seat championship, a high level race that entails a 30km paddle up to Nelspruit. The marathon is a two-day event that took place over the weekend of 25 and 26 October. Kayaking or canoeing is a generic term used to describe the sport in which you sit facing the direction you are headed and paddle in a forward motion.

Roodt’s sturdy river skills allowed him to qualify for this grueling two-day race that sees experienced canoeists attempting to take on the river’s treacherous rapids. The marathon left many canoes in battered shape, resulting in canoeists trying to hold their canoes together with rolls of duct tape after all the damage sustained due to the intense pounding and fast-flowing gradient boulders of the strewn rapids.

Sasol Lowveld Crocodile Canoe Marathon is a kayak race that takes place on the Crocodile River which originates north of Dullstroom in Mpumalanga and runs downstream to the Kwena Dam, where the race starts. The river’s name comes from the vast number of crocodiles that can be found lurking in its murky waters and on its river banks. Hippos are also known to populate its upper regions. Farmers stocked up on lucerne as fodder to attract the hippo’s in an attempt to keep them fenced in during the course of last year’s race. Paddlers did however discover a couple of crocodiles in the pools of the lower stretch of river, sparking this year’s decision by race organisers, the Lowveld Canoe Club, to remain above the more serious waterfalls in order to not disturb the hippos.

This highly technical A+ grade race is only open to accomplished canoeists who manage to complete a minimum of three A grade races such as completing The Dusi canoe marathon. This year 104 kayakers part took in the event with only 69 managing to complete it. Roodt, who is a member of the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club based at Emmarentia Dam, managed to take on the challenge and finished the race successfully in a time of 5 hours 21 minutes, coming 44th. He is affiliated with Canoe SA and belongs to the Gauteng Canoe Union.