VKB LIEBENSBERGVLEI RIVER RACE FEEDBACK!! 31 AUG/1 SEPTEMBER 2019

 The two day race hosted by Dabulamanzi Canoe Club on the Liebensbergvlei River on 31 August and 1 September 2019, covered a distance of some +- 64km over the two days with the first day enjoying white water wave trains and bumpy corners, as well as a few technical tackles, while day 2 was large flat water, a hard tough slog to improve fitness and gain mileage as paddlers prepare for the A Grade Fish river marathon at the end of September, leading up to the Dusi in February 2020.

 

The race hosted the South African K2 Junior “Schools” River Championships which was won by Under 16 youngsters from Michaelhouse, Ross Leslie and Chase Leisegang in 4:18 over the two days with the winning girls being Under 18 Epworth ladies, Shannon Parker-Dennison and Georginia Howard in a time overall of 5:06 as the first finishing females!

The race winners overall were Under 23 Stewart Little and Hamish Lovemore (Varsity College/Eurosteel team), in 4:07.

 

But our focus is on the Gauteng achievers of course!  and not unexpectedly the performance of the race was provided by Wayne Jacobs and Clinton Cook from Dabulamanzi who despite a broken paddle managed to catch up and make up space to take the 3rd position overall as first Gauteng finishers in a time of 4:14.

There were a number of Gauteng podium achievers and this feedback report will only mention the 1st place categories overall…..

So well done to Grant Ahlschlager and Riccardo Talevi (Dabs) who finished as 1st Sub Veterans at the race, in 4:18, Gustav Smook and Andreas Van Tonder with Wikus Loots (Low) who were the 1st K3 finishers and 1st Sub Masters in 4:34.

Well done to Holly Spencer partnered with Bradley Boulle (Dabs) who were the first finishing Mixed Double in 4:41, and Kobus / Caroline Filmalter (WAT) who were the first Veterans in 4:47!

Willie Endres and Gerrie Moolman (Pre/ACD) finished as first Masters in 4:58, and Chris Visser / Willem Burger (Dabs) were first Sub Grand masters in 5:04……with Joe Torlage partnered with Tony Purchase (Dabs) finishing in 5:08 as first Grand Masters!

Our ladies finishers deserve a mention – well done to Sarah Robinson and Carol Reeves (Dabs) who were the 2nd Female finishers overall, in 5:12 – great racing!

Despite lower water levels than expected on this river section, everybody had a fantastic time on the river which was nevertheless still enormous fun, and excellent training!

JENNIE DALLAS

0828578571

Young Guns take the Win
Two days of intense racing came down to an end sprint as the 2019 edition of the
VKB Liebenbergsvlei Canoe Marathon wrapped up in Frankfort this weekend.
Hamish Lovemore (Euro Steel / Varsity College), defending Champion, was able to
retain his title this year with training partner and flat-mate, Stewart Little (Euro
Steel / Varsity College.
This wining combination did not have the racing all their own way and were made
to work tirelessly to the finish line as the power-house pairing of Jacques Theron
(CG) and Bryan Le Roux (KZN) were fighting all the way to the line for the win.
Theron and Le Roux were the overnight leaders by 2 seconds, but relinquished that
lead after the final portage around a weir, 5km before the finish line. “The youngsters
were too strong today,” commented Theron, who is no stranger to the top
step of the podium in canoe races.
Little was humble in his response, saying “We were lucky to win as we made many
mistakes, but are very glad to have pulled it off.” His partner, who drove them to
this years victory, is familiar with the VKB Trophy as he has held it for the past three
years. “To win this year, and keep the trophy in KZN is very special,” he lamented,
“but we had to work hard for the win against a strong crew.”
Performance award of the day however, must have gone to the partnership of
Clint Cook and Wayne Jacobs, who slipped down the rankings to 7th position on
Day 1 due to a broken paddle after 12km into the stage. They pulled out all the
stops on Day 2 and clawed their way back onto the podium, passing all the leading
contenders who were fighting for that coveted final spot on the podium.
The Ladies race saw an even younger combination take the win through Georgina
Howard (Epworth) and Shannon Parker-Dennison (Epworth), both competitors in
the U16 category, and also winners of the Canoeing South Africa title of SA
Schools K2 River Champions, which this race doubled as. Their win gave them victories
in the U16 category, the U18 category, the overall victory along with the SA
Schools title – a great weekend from of this young crew who thoroughly deserved
the win.
Over 300 athletes started the race and made their way from Reitz to Tweeling,
then onto Frankfort for the final stage, where the celebrations and race stories
were swopped with great gusto at the now famous end point of O’Gara’s Pub.
Full race results can be found on the website: www.lbvcanoemarathon.co.za under
the News & Media section.
For more information on the event, please contact Race Direct, MJ Robb on
info@lbvcanoemarathon.co.za
For event related images, videos or links please contact Graham Daniel,
graham@369communcations.co.za