Christie Mackenzie, now Sandton based, who trains at Emmarentia Dam and is sponsored by Varsity College, was the first lady finishers in the K2 race (2 man kayak) in this K2 challenge, in a time of 5 hours 18 minutes, partnered with with Bridgitte Hartley from KZN (previously a bronze medal Olympian medallist for sprint racing)
Wayne Jacobs and Clinton Cook finished 4th overall as the 3rd Seniors in a time of 4 hours 52 minutes. The race alternates between K1 and K2 category recognition annually, while K3’s are becoming increasingly popular to introduce novices to the river.
Sam Butcher from Academy of Canoe Development Pretoria, who did so well at the Liebensbergvlei SA K1 River Champs, was the 3rd Under 23 K2 finisher with his partner David Evans in a time of 4 hours 56 minutes….
Alex Roberts and MJ Robb were 3rd Sub Vet Finishers in 5 hours 14 minutes followed by SCARCS’ Siseko Ntondini (GOOD to see him healthy and active after his incident at Berg River!!) and Kwandokuhle Mzolo 14th senior finishers a few seconds behind them….
Winning MASTERS were Wally Fisher and Pieter Engelbrecht in 5h41,
Ryan Thompson / Crispin Thompson finished in 5h57, as SM 2nd, and Gerrie Moolman with Jaco van der Westhuizen were 3rd Master K2 champs in 6h05, while Dean Burscough and Harald Wattrus finished as 2nd GGM in 6h10!
While browsing the results to see who achieved good podium finishes at this K2 Champs, I was impressed to see Lindy Odendaal and Annette Van Heerden, two NWU ladies who finished as 15th Females in 8h44 – quite an impressive achievement for the ladies – well done!
Many others finished well, and had enormous fun at the exciting challenging rapids on the Fish River…….and any high resolution action photos that can be used for news print, should please be sent to me to promote our sport!
All information including results, videos and photos are available to enjoy on the Fish River Canoe Marathon 2021 website…..unfortunately posts on Facebook and WhatsAPP are reduced resolution and not suitable for news print articles…..