FEEDBACK – HANSA FISH MARATHON – SA K2 RIVER CHAMPIONSHIPS – 6 / 7 OCTOBER 2017 – CRADOCK!!
The ever popular exciting Fish river canoe marathon took place past weekend in Cradock bringing us the excitement, thrill and awesome enjoyment of guaranteed big water with its admin, swims, boat breaks and adventures!!
The Full Results and photos can be found on the website – HERE
The winning teams were Andy Birkett with Greg Louw in 4h39, (KZN/EC) with second place in 4h40 going to Stuart Maclaren (WP) with International paddler Cryille Carre in a very close competition while the first ladies team to finish were Jenna Ward with Anna Adamova (KZN/INT) in 5h14. The second ladies were not far behind making another exciting race bringing in Bridgitte Hartley and Krisztina Bedoc (KZN/INT) in 5h15.
The top finishing Gauteng paddler was Soweto’s Siseko Ntondini with an international partner Kito Vega in 4h47, 6th overall, while Alex Roberts and Wayne Jacobs (DABS) finished in 4h55, as 2nd Sub Veterans and 12th K2 finishers.
The next Gautengers to finish were Dave Hamilton-Brown, Malcolm Stothard, Anthony Rowan (DABS) as the first Gauteng K3 finishers and first Veteran boat, in a time of 5h20, while our first Under 23 team brought in Siyabonga Tyiki and Thando Ngamlana (SCARC) in a time of 5h23.
Loveday Zondi with Dylan Brown (SCARC/DABS) finished as next Gautengers, K2 37, in 5h23 while Andy Leith (Dabs) was in the 3rd K3 to finish as the first Master boat to cross the finish line in 5h26, while John Barrow and Kevin Middleton (DABS) were the actual SA winning K2 Master finishers at this SA K2 Championships event in 5h46, as K2 72.
Among the top Gauteng finishers in the top 50 of the race were K2 40 and K2 41 in 5h28 and 5h29 respectively – Michael John Robb and Alistair Jackson, (Dabs), followed by Richard Cele with Roy Clegg (VLC).
The Top 50 finishing K2 honour went to Gustav Smook Jnr (LCC) and Zanenhlanhla Mbala (SCARC) who were the first juniors from Gauteng to finish, in 5h33 as 3rd Under 16 boat across the finish line and Wally Fisher and Theo Smit (CEN) were the 2nd Sub Master Podium finishers in 5h36 as the 56th K2 finishers.
Emile Theunissen (FLCC) was the first K1 finisher overall at the Hansa Fish marathon event, finishing as the 20th Under 23 in a time of 5h45
I was unable to find a female finisher from Gauteng on the results (Please correct me if I’ve missed someone) however the first Gauteng finisher in the mixed double category was the 2nd Mixed Doubles finisher in 5h49, 79th K2, Grant Pollock (Dabs) who was partnered with Jessica Pollock (UCT/WP). The Gauteng mixed double “PAIR” top finishers were Likkewaan’s Philip Claassen and Sylvia Nel, in 6h00 as the 103rd K2 finishers.
More podium finishers after the 50th K2 finish from Gauteng included Meyer Steyn (Dabs) and Gerhard Steyn (LCC) earned the SGM 2nd podium position finishing as K2 95, in 5h57. The 3rd GM podium position went to Brian Longley and Graham Holm (Dabs)who finished in 6h06 as 115 th K2 . Michael Collier (Dabs) was on the podium for the Third SGM position with EC partner Peter King, finishing in 6h16 (K2 133).
There were also a number of withdrawals / boat breaks and unfortunately a few battered and bruised paddlers as Keiths and Soutpans including the approaches took their toll.
Well done to ALL Gauteng finishers and those who withdrew due to irreparable damage to boat or injuries! Gauteng made up a good percentage of the field!
Jennie Dallas
for GCU PR
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