Dabs canoeist conquers the Elands
In memory of beloved local paddler Laetitia Scheepers, who lost her life during a training trip on the Elands River on Valentine's Day in 2009, the annual 3338 Elands Memorial Race took place on Saturday.
The exciting Elands River – with its downhill gradients and sharp tight T-junction corners, great white-water drops and wave trains – always provides an exciting journey, despite the water level being lower than previous years.
It did, however, make it a slog for K2 (double canoe) paddlers. The K1’s (single canoes) also hit some bump and grind, but thoroughly enjoyed the race and the beautiful scenery.
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The winner was Wayne Jacobs (Dabs) in 01:35 as first sub-veteran, with Loveday Zondi (SOW) some 41 seconds later as first senior. Piers Cruickshanks (Dabs) finished in 01:37 as first veteran in third place.
The junior-category winners were Tristan Trican (FLCC) u/18 and Gustav Smook (LOW) as first u/16, one second apart in 01:51. The first lady to cross the finish line was Alexandra Jensen (Dabs) in 02:16 while Janet Bartlet (Dabs) was the second in 02:31.
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The second senior finisher was Jarryd Breeds (ERK) in 01:51:53, with Gerhard Steyn (LOW) finishing as first sub grand master in 01:52, followed by Gustav Smook (LOW) 45 seconds later as first sub master.
Brian Longley was the great grand master top finisher (Dabs) in 01:57, while grand master Meyer Steyn was the top rand master in two hours. The first K2 was a mixed double with Kevin Middleton and Alexis Rich (Dabs) in 02:02 and JC Kriek (LOW) was the third senior finisher in 02:06. The first master age category finisher was Giles Walkey (Dabs) in 02:08.
