Centurion based paddlers collect medals at the world masters marathon championships
Local paddlers from the Centurion Canoe Club recently performed superbly during the Canoe Marathon World Championships in Metković, Croatia.
The 2024 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships was held recently in Metković, Croatia and several local paddlers performed well during this international spectacle.
Many paddlers from local areas around Gauteng, and clubs based at lakes and dams in the area represented South Africa this event.
Several members of the Centurion Canoe Club, which is based at the Rietvlei dam, made themselves known on the international stage during this championship.
Annually paddlers gather to compete at local provincial selections races, which lead to national trial events. Thereafter teams are selected to represent the country at the international events in various disciplines.
This includes Sprints and Marathons. The former are short and fast Olympic type races, while the latter are long distance fast races, which includes portages where paddlers display their ability to pick up their boat out of the water and run a short distance to put in efficiently, after which they paddle again in the water.
Photo: Supplied
Several local rowers from Centurion, as well as others from other clubs in Gauteng, performed brilliantly this year in Croatia, especially in the masters category.
South Africa’s first gold medal came in the Men’s K2 50-54 age group. Michael Stewart partnered with Pieter Engelbrecht, a member at Centurion Canoe Club, to win a gold medal in their race.
Gustav Radloff from Centurion won two medals. He first earned a third place for the bronze medal in the K1 55-59 event. He then teamed up with his faithful Gauteng teammate, Bradley Fisher, in the K2 55-59 category to win another gold medal for South Africa.
On the second day of racing, in the doubles events, the South African combination of Pierre van der Merwe and Theo Smit claimed the bronze in K2 65 – 69 age group and Smit also claimed the bronze in the K1 Men’s 65-69 event.
Van der Merwe and Smit are both members of the Centurion Canoe club.
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