JOBURG SOUTH: East Rand Kayak club based in Benoni, hosted a 33km race on the Vaal river from the Dam Wall to Three Rivers, on Saturday September 14.
The long tough hard slog on the mostly flat water of the Vaal river which always feels sluggish, normally has head winds, but the weather was perfect in mid-September, for the paddlers trying out their doubles championships for the SA K2 River Championships race which will be on this river in November, and hoping for selection to the GCU team to represent the province at the event.
The river race was also a great opportunity to iron out partnerships for the Hansa Fish River Marathon coming up in two weeks’ time in the Eastern Cape town of Cradock, as it was the last Gauteng based river race before the 80km wild white water event. For many, the Fish River Canoe Marathon is the first big white water A-grade major national river race that novices and beginners do to progress in this sport.
The few interesting and challenging rapids on the Vaal river sorted out the good combinations from the swimmers in short shrift.
While Grant van der Merwe from the South, known as Klippies for reasons only he would know, is a highly talented and experienced young paddler with numerous river skills as a white water paddler, young 14 year old Alex Masina will be doing his first Fish this year. Masina from Forest Hill Primary in Turffontein has made his mark as a top flat water sprinter winning numerous podium positions and provincial recognition, and has also proved his ability on local rivers.
Klippies and Alex finished the long hard tough slog of 33km in 2:46 as the 17th doubles finisher out of 69 that finished. The first finishers from their club, Johannesburg Canoe Club based at Wemmer Pan, were Ryan Simonato and Gavin Steyl who were sixth overall finishing in a time of 2:37 minutes.
The Hansa Fish river canoe marathon, an A-grade white water river race with guaranteed water release covers a distance of 80km over two days at the end of September, and takes place in Cradock, the Eastern Cape.
