A-rated canoe marathon
A canoe marathon was held on the Crocodile River recently.
The A-rated canoe marathon that was held on the Crocodile River, in the Lowveld of Mpumalanga, on October 12 and 13, by the Nelspruit-based canoe club, is one of the most difficult and technical river races held in South Africa.
Compulsory helmets, as well as a Triple A river rating, is indicated in order to compete.
The only participant from the Victoria Lake Canoe Club, based at Germiston Lake, who finished both days of the two-day challenge, was Malcolm Percival, who was the 77th finisher, in a time of six hours 41 minutes.
The canoe race over 20km per day is growing in popularity, as one of the most demanding and challenging races, and the top finishers are recognised by the Gauteng Canoe Union, as the K1 River Kings.
With fast flowing water released into the narrow river bed, the race is fast and furious, and boat breaks are quick, requiring superb river skills and fast reflexes.
Among the challenges for the Lowveld Canoe Club organisers and scouts was keeping the local hippo at a distance from the racers.
To add to the challenges and difficulty of the race, the scouts from the local Lowveld Canoe Club still identified a hippo taking a dip in the section of the river where the race was to run, forcing a compulsory portage, where the paddlers had to get out of the water upriver from the hippo’s pool and run a detour around bush and shrubbery, to put in further down.
