Gauteng Canoe Union has set up a series of flat-water marathon races for the Gauteng paddlers to prepare for the interprovincial team selection for marathons, which will take place at East Rand Kayak club based in Benoni on 3 and 4 June.

The first race in the series was hosted at Florida Lake Canoe Club in Roodepoort on 15 April and the second took place at Wemmer Pan, hosted by the Johannesburg Canoe Club on 22 April.

Paddlers from various clubs participate in the challenge and training opportunity and enjoyed the training opportunity including those from the Centurion based canoe club at Rietvlei dam.

The next event in the series will be hosted at the Rietvlei dam and managed by the Centurion Canoe Club this coming Saturday, 6 May.

At the JCC race on 22 April,  Centurion based paddlers including Anya Botes finished the 10km race as second female in 1 hour 6 minutes, while Ronald Pronk partnered with Krzysztof Lapacz to finish the doubles main (20km K2) race, as the second Sub Veteran age category finishers in a time of 1 hour 35 minutes and 57 seconds.

Another duo from Centurion, Theo Smit and Pierre van der Merwe, were the Great Grand Master winners in a time of 1 hour 37 minutes and 38 seconds.

Of course, provision is also made for the younger paddlers. The route for the 14-years and older age groups includes a few portages where the paddlers are required to exit the water smoothly and carry boats a short distance before re-entering the water.

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