Junior paddler makes Fish history
6 October 2008
Grant van der Walt paddled his way into the history books by becoming the first junior canoeist to win the Hansa Powerade Fish River Canoe Marathon title when he and Hank McGregor completed an emphatic and tactical victory on the weekend.
The pair started the 36 kilometre final stage from Knutsford to Cradock with the talented Cradock siblings Ryan and Greg Louw right alongside them. The two crews jockeyed for ascendancy during the first half on the final stage until a key moment in the approach to Marlow Chute.
'Now or never'
Van der Walt and McGregor sprinted ahead to get to the weir first and cleverly squeezed out the Eastern Cape brothers as they slid down the steps of the weir. "I knew it was now or never," said McGregor. "We sprinted away and the Louw brothers didn't have an answer."
By the time the duo reached the four-metre high Cradock Weir on the outskirts of the town the Louw brothers were out of sight. Van der Walt whooped with delight after they successfully negotiated the weir, knowing their victory was secure and with it his slice of canoeing history.
"This is the biggest thing to happen to me in canoeing in South Africa," said van der Walt, who won the Junior World Marathon Championships in 2007 and followed that with a silver medal at the Junior Worlds in the Czech Republic two weeks ago.
'Dreamed about winning'
"I did my first Fish as an 11-year-old and I have always dreamed about winning this race," he added.
"This is the biggest race we have and to win it in front of all my friends and paddlers is something special," Van der Walt said.
The Louw brothers wrapped up second place two minutes further back, with the last place on the podium going to Doug Bird and Nick Burden.
Czech women win
The women's K2 title fell for the second time in succession to the classy Czech Republic pairing of Michala Mruzkova and Katerina Vacikova. They completed a flawless final stage to post a comfortable two-minute victory to retain the title they won in 2006.
The silver medal was won by Abbey Miedema and Michele Eray, who came from behind to overtake Alexa Cole and Bridgette Hartley in the final 15-minute dice from Cradock Weir to the finish.
"We were a bit afraid at Cradock Weir, but we shot it fine and had no other troubles," said Mruzkova, recalling how a swim at the same weir nearly cost the Czechs the title in 2006. "Today was better because it was shorter and we always had the advantage," said Vacikova.
Silver medal dice
The dice for the silver medal saw the crews of Miedema and Eray and the combination of Cole and Hartley repeatedly swopping places. Cole and Hartley looked as if they held all the cards after shooting Cradock Weir first. However Miedema and Eray had other plans.
"At the Gold Course Rapids we were close to them and Abbey (Miedema) called for an early sprint," said Eray. "We didn't want to leave it to the end sprint and we went really hard to overtake them."
The KZN duo of Ben Biggs and Stuart Waterworth won the junior boys title with an excellent ninth place overall, five minutes clear of the Johannesburg teenagers Murray Burgess and Brandon van der Walt, the younger brother of the new champion Grant van der Walt.
Mixed doubles
The Amanzimtoti pairing of Michelle Eder and Oliver Burn took the mixed doubles title by a comfortable seven-minute margin from Mark and Angelique Mulder.
The race prize giving was preceded by a minute's silence in memory of East London paddler, John Breetzke, who died after being evacuated from the first stage of the race, experiencing chest pains.
RESULTS
MEN
- Hank McGregor / Grant van der Walt 04:53:09
- Greg Louw / Ryan Louw 04:55:00
- Douglas Bird / Nicholas Burden 04:58:40
- Michael Arthur / Nick Stubbs 05:04:49
- Ernst van Riet / Heinrich Schloms 05:05:28
- Alex Roberts / Gavin Payne 05:06:06
- Mike Harris / Brandon Collyer 05:09:08
- Andrew Birkett / Pierre-Andre Rabie 05:09:10
- Ben Biggs / Stuart Waterworth 05:10:31
- Shaun Griffin / Stuart Clifton 05:13:23
WOMEN
- Michala Mruzkova / Katerina Vacikova 05:22:21
- Abbey Miedema / Michelle Eray 05:24:27
- Alexa Cole / Brigitte Hartley 05:24:35
- Kelly Howe / Tiffany Kruger 05:41:04
- Robyn Kime / Abie Adie 05:41:10
- Suzette Maree / Hanre Maree 05:43:52
MIXED DOUBLES
- Michelle Eder / Oliver Burn 05:33:13
- Mark Mulder / Angelique Mulder 05:40:44
- Andrew Skowno / Janet Vorster 05:43:05
- Kate March / Nicholas March 05:57:01
- Matthew Ballenden / Sarah Saunders 05:57:53
JUNIOR BOYS
- Ben Biggs / Stuart Waterworth 05:10:07
- Brandon van der Walt / Murray Burgess 05:15:33
- Luke Chalupsky / Jonathan Jacob 05:26:40
JUNIOR GIRLS
- Suzette Maree / Hanre Maree 05:43:52
- Vicki Chiazzari / Lindsey Davis 06:07:34
- Tamika Haw / Lauren Canham 06:12:42
Source: Canoeing South Africa
