Club members of the Centurion Canoe Club, based at Rietvlei dam, as well as other Pretoria based paddlers from the Academy of Canoe Development at Roodeplaat Dam recently enjoyed the exciting rapids and other challenges on the Liebensbergvlei river, from Reitz Water Works to Tweeling in the Orange Free State.

The annual Liebensbergvlei Canoe Marathon is an event consisting of two-day stages. It starts near Reitz, and the first stage ends 33 km downstream at Zorgvliet farm, near Tweeling. The second day starts at Bruinswick farm north of Tweeling and ends at Frankfort.

This river race is filled with wild water corners, rapids and a couple of weirs, which they can shoot over depending on the water level.

The top experienced paddlers took up the challenge and enjoyed the marathon. However, those who are still learners on the challenges of river currents made use of the opportunity to practice their river skills.

Safety requirements as dictated by Canoeing South Africa require that any new person registering to enter a river race must go on a learning trip on the river, and be taught safety and proficiency and it is recommended that young and new paddlers partner with a more experienced paddler while they gain confidence and learn to read the rivers and currents to be able to enjoy the excitement of river paddling.

Gerrie Moolman and his son, Martin, who are members of the local based paddling club in Pretoria at Roodeplaat dam, enjoyed the action and thrill. Gerrie is more experienced, but Martin was the one who was exposed to the excitement of river paddling for the first time.

Nevertheless, they did finish the two days, a feat not everyone could manage. There were some broken boats that pulled out early in the race.

Johan Pretorius and Hertz Eiselen from Centurion Canoe Club had recently been introduced to river paddling and the requisite skills of how to paddle up and down a rapid, and how to turn in the fast flow and using the quiet water pools known as “eddies” to manage their situation.  They had participated in a river training introduction session the previous weekend on the Vaal River, where they learned an amazing amount. However, the huge rapids on the Liebensbergvlei would have been quite a shock as they would have learned many new things the hard (and fast) way.

Hardus Theunissen, who has recently moved to Centurion, paddled with Moshe Ngomane, a young Sowetan with extensive river race experienced. They finished the two days in 5 hours 28 minutes after a delayed start due to some technical problems with a rudder cable that snapped.

Another Centurion Canoe Club member, Kryzsztof Lapacz, partnered with the highly experienced fellow club member, Ronald Pronk, to finish the race in first place in the Sub Veteran age category and in 16th place overall for K2 participants.

With only one boat finishing between them, their fellow paddlers from Centurion Canoe Club, Wally Fisher and Pierre van der Merwe, crossed the finish line some 20 seconds later, as the first finishers in the  Master Age category (50+ years).

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