The Gauteng Sprint Championships took place on the 26th March, hosted by the Johannesburg Canoe Club at Wemmer Pan. For the Europeans a lovely summers day, but for those of us from the Southern Hemisphere, a cold,
windy, overcast day.
Despite the weather, we had a great turnout in the Juniors with 89 entries and a slightly disappointing 12 entries for the seniors. We ran both 200m and 500m races during the course of the day, only K1 events, as those that
entered for K2 never pitched up for their races, not the kind of example we would like to be setting for the Juniors.
The Top 3 finishes in each age group were as follows:
Under 8 boys 200m Under 8 boys 500m
1. Quintus Mienie 1. Aiden Honke
2. Aiden Honke 2.Quintus Mienie
3. Ethan Duncan 3. Ethan Duncan
Under 8 200m girls Under 8 500m girls
1. Izania van Sandwyk 1. Izania van Sandwyk
Under 10 boys 200m Under 10 boys 500m
1.Marco van Sandwyk 1.Divan Bornman
2.Divan Bornman 2.Marco van Sandwyk
3.Josh Smith 3.Luke Wilson
Under 12 boys 200m Under 12 boys 500m
1.Lynton Oelofse 1.Lynton Oelofse
2.Kimru Croukamp 2.Theo Dreyer
3.Nicholas Erwee 3.Nicholas Erwee
Under 12 girls 200m Under 12 girls 500m
1.Justine Tillet 1.Justine Tillet
2.Ameerah Hank 2.Ameerah Hank
3.Alexandra de Klerk 3.Alexandra de Klerk
Under 14 boys 200m Under 14 boys 500m
1. Ruan van Pletzen 1. Finlay Leask
2. Finlay Leask 2.Ruan van Pletzen
3. Luca Pierini 3. Luca Pierini
Under 14 girls 200m Under 14 girls 500m
1.Jo-ane Prinsloo 1.Jo-ane Prinsloo
2. Kamiliah Hank 2. Kamiliah Hank
3. Tinyiko Mahwayi 3. Tinyiko Mahwayi
Under 16 boys 200m Under 16 boys 500m
1.Wian Bornman 1.Wian Bornman
2. Zanenhlanla Mbala 2.Zanenhlanla Mbala
3.Peter Tumiel 3.Wongama Makhasi
Under 16 girls 200m Under 16 girls 500m
1.Megan Oelofse 1.Megan Oelofse
2.Abigail Bezuidenhout 2.Abigail Bezuidenhout
3.Alexis Rich 3.Alexis Rich
Under 18 200m male Under 18 500m male
1. Mathew Eckhart 42.10 1. Jonathan Jooste 2.02.51
2. Sean van Pletzen 45.05 2. Mathew Eckhart 2.02.84
3. Jonathan Jooste 45.41 3. Sean van Pletzen 2.13.83
Under 18 200m girls Under 18 500m girls
1.Pooja Satyaprakesh 1:14.85 1.Pooja Satyaprakesh 3:10.44
2.Shanae Marais 1:16.25
2. Luthando Mathobela 3:12.79
3. Luthando Mathobela 1.18.37 3.Shanae Marais 3:19.38
Senior women 200m Senior women 500m
1. Esti van Tonder 45.12 1. Esti van Tonder 1:59.02
2.Kayla de Beer 46.40 2.Kayla de Beer 2:14.42
Senior men 200m Senior men 500m
1. Nick Weeks 39.40 1. Nick weeks 2:04.29
2. David Rodrigues 39.78 2. Emile Theunissen 2:09.89
3. Christopher Fielding 43.56 3.Thomas Cook 2:10.18
Men para 200m
1. Jono Wing 52.12
2. Constant Olivier 1:04.43
Men C1 200m Men C1 500m
1. Tshepo Mareletse 1:03.25 1. Tshepo Mareletse 2:47.31
2. Donald Rathlahane 1:15.10 2. Donald Rathlahane 3:41.21
This is definitely a step up from Gauteng Champs last year with much higher Junior participation, so hopefully we can build on this and get some more seniors involved in the future. There are some plans in the pipeline for
some fun, fast races in the near future, to start a new era of sprinting in Gauteng, and hopefully that will start increasing interest and participation.
The U/18 and Seniors selected to the Gauteng Team to represent the province
at SA Championships in a couple of weeks time:
U/18 Boys:
Matthew Eckhart
Jonathan Jooste
Sean van Pletzen
Donald Rathlahane – C1
Senior Women:
Esti van Tonder
Kayla De Beer
Senior Men:
Nick Weeks
David Rodrigues
Tshepo Maraletse – C1
Para:
Jono Wing
Constant Olivier
Please note: If you are not selected you may still compete at the SA Championships, it is just that the standard would not have been good enough for selection to the Gauteng Team. The SA Championships is an open event,
so anyone can compete from U/18 upwards. (U/16 paddlers may compete but will have to participate in the U/18 age group)
Any information/complaints about the event, selection, or any other matters pertaining to the sprints can be sent via e-mail to the following address:fhpicanoeing@gmail.com
These matters will not be addressed over the phone.
Regards,
Martin van den Bergh
072 302 9799