Local paddlers excel at Gauteng Marathon Championships
Paddlesport Gauteng's Marathon Championships were recently held in the Lowveld and several local paddlers from clubs in Pretoria and Centurion earned podium places in their respective age categories at the event.
The Lowveld Canoe Club at Longmere Dam near White River hosted the Gauteng Paddlesport Marathon Championships recently and local participants from Pretoria and Centurion performed exceptionally well.
This championship was presented in preparation for the national South African Marathon Championships which will take place on 3 July at the Marina da Gama Peninsula Canoe Club in the Western Cape.
The K1 races (single one man kayak), over an optional shorter distance of 10km or the longer 20km race took place on the first day (Saturday), while the K2 event (two man kayak races) took place on the second day (Sunday).
Longmere Dam is located in an area with beautiful nature and paddlers could not stop talking about the impressive environment, of which green meadows and grazing herds contributed to a peaceful atmosphere around the dam.
Although this championship included distances that are much further than the usual 200m, 500m, 1000m sprint events that normally form part of the focus at the Academy of Canoe Development (ACD) based at Roodeplaat Dam, some of the academy’s management members ventured into the longer distances at the championship.
Esti Olivier, coach at the ACD, participated in the shorter 10km race, which she won in a time of just over 50 minutes. Her father, Phillip van Tonder, director of the ACD, was the first finisher in the over 70 year age category in a time of 58 minutes and 56 seconds.
Photo: Supplied
Various paddlers from the Centurion Canoe Club also participated and performed excellently in both the K1 and K2 sections.
Theo Smit participated in the 70+ age category (K1) and recorded a time of just over 38 minutes, which earned him first place for his age group.
Another Centurion paddler, Ronald Pronk, also won his age group race when he finished first in 38 minutes in the 65+ year age category (K1).
Pieter Engelbrecht took on the 20km option for single one man kayaks on the first day. He finished second in the 55+ age category in a time of just over 34 minutes.
Elton Du Preez also finished in 38 minutes and he was 21st overall and third in the 45+ age category (K1), while Dirk Labuschagne finished 16th in the 60+ age category (K1)in a time of just over 35 minutes.
On the Sunday some of the Centurion racers doubled up in K2 kayaks, where Ronald Pronk with Theo Smith won the 65+ year age category in 1 hour 30 minutes, followed by Dirk Labuschagne and Elton du Preez a few seconds later.
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