February kicked off with a flurry of activities, featuring Sprints at Dabs, River Races down South on the Dusi and up North on the Elands, and even with all that we still had guys go trip the Liebensberg…
Dabs has never hosted a Sprint event, mainly because our whirlpool is too small, but the Trilogy Sprint Series is not your normal sprint event. Conceived by Olympian Esti Olivier, the series aims to foster competition among paddlers irrespective of their experience or age. In this unique event, you’ll find kids in Guppies literally going head-to-head with guys and girls in Nelo’s. There were 4 rounds of 25 different 100m races, the first being to determine handicaps, the last the winners. The day ended with one Junior and one as the highest ranked athletes – well done to Kyle Armdorf (SCARC) and Gareth Barberton (Academy for Canoe Development, Roodeplaat) who now lead the way. There are still two more events to go and R10 000 in prize money awaiting. Thanks to the sponsors PVM Energy Bars, Flatdog Bodyguard Sunscreen and Power Race Sunglasses. Well done to Esti for getting this off the ground – the next event to be held at Roodeplaat on the 24th, and we wish Esti well – she has dedicated her life to the Olympic dream, and we would love to see her medal later this year. Go Esti!
Also on Saturday but down in KZN, the Dusi Bridge to Mfula Store race unfolded on a medium river. Siseko and Banetse secured a significant victory, triumphing over the local favorites. Go SCARC Go! KZN’s Mtolo and Khwela, widely seen as the strongest contenders for this year’s Dusi win, came third. The longstanding champion Andy Birkett now partnering with Matt Fenn won’t give up his crown easily, but the anticipation grows for history to be made by the first black combo claiming a Dusi win. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if it was a SCARC combo! Siskeo and Banetse came 5th in 2022, when Mtolo and Khwela were racing with different partners, and came second and third respectively, behind Birkett. Dusi 2024 looks like it should be a cracker of a race for the top 10 positions!
Then up in the North-East, it was the Elands Memorial Race. 34 paddlers started, with the majority being from Dabs. Well done to Piers who won, Loveday was second and Nick Warren third. Well done also to Son Bon who comfortably won the ladies section ahead of Kirsty and Sylvia. In his enthusiasm to get people to the race Skid sold it as being a lot easier that the Lowveld, but the river conditions on the day were medium to low which made it a lot trickier than when it was last raced two years ago, and as a result only 25 boats finished. Our newer members learnt a lot, as did some of our more seasoned guys. Bottom line is we all need to spend more time tripping rivers to hone our skills; the Elands remains a great place to learn; and the only way to learn is by getting back in the boat! (That said we must remember that the race is dedicated to Laetitia Scheepers who drowned while tripping this stretch in 2009.) Well done to Gabi who got back on the river on Sunday and finished. Well done also to Matt B and Gunther for helping out as a guides and sweeps. Looking at the fantastic photos by Hennie Hoffman (HH Photography), Rob Collier pulled off the save of the day; it’s amazing what can be done when one doesn’t want to swim! Actually, the save(s) of the day came later in the evening when Williams saved 4 out of 5 spot-kicks to take Bafana Bafana through to the AFCON Semis – Incredible – plus he saved one in ordinary time too – Unbelievable! Thank-you to Eric Dixon and his team and thank you to the sponsors, including Canoe Concepts.
On Sunday it was the last of the John Oliver warmups down in KZN with the Bishopstowe to Dusi Bridge race (most of day 1 of Dusi) where Siskeo and Banetse came second, showing they really are in fine form for what will be an epic race; good luck guys!
And more news from last weekend. While some river paddlers enjoyed the Drak Challenge, others took on the more challenging Thrombi X-Fest, on a lower section of the Underberg. Niel Burger came third in Kayak Cross Event where paddlers race up and downstream through numbered gates as in slalom paddling, but here they have head-to-head races with 4 guys on the course at the same time. After that he went and shot a not-so-little waterfall. Well done Neil; Jy lyk baie better in n river as jou pa!
Next up it’s the Dusi, where our Dabs guys should claim several silvers, possibly even gold, plus we will also have some Dusi novices along with some ‘Dusi Rats’ and a ‘would-be Rat’ representing for us. Good luck to all who are going!