The East Rand Kayak Club hosted a 33km race on the Vaal River, from the dam wall near Deneysville to Three Rivers, on September 14.
The top finishers included Richard Cele and Josh Loots, of the Victoria Lake Canoe Club, who finished the race as the 20th K2, in two hours and 50 minutes.
Cele is the club’s youth development coach and mentor.
Colin Ledwaba, from Germiston High School, and Katiso Hlahatsi have been part of the Victoria Lake Canoe Club’s community youth development programme for years and both have achieved success in various age groups, competing in sprints, marathons and river races.
They finished the ERK Vaal River 33km race in two hours 57 minutes.
The weather was perfect in mid-September for the paddlers to try out their doubles abilities, in preparation for the SA K2 River Championships, which will take place on the same river in November.
The young, u-23 boys will also compete in the major national A Grade Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon, all in hope of selection to the GCU team, to represent the province at the SA event.
The SA K2 River Championships will take place over the weekend of November 2 and 3, from the dam wall to Parys.
The Vaal River race was a great opportunity to iron out partnerships for the Hansa Fish River Marathon, coming up in two weeks, in the Eastern Cape town of Cradock, as it was the last Gauteng-based river race before the 80km wild white water event.
The few interesting and challenging rapids on the Vaal River sorted out the good combinations from the swimmers in short shrift.
