McGregor, Mocke win SA K2 Champs
9 September 2008
Hank McGregor and Dawid Mocke won the Canon Breede River Canoe Marathon at the weekend, and with it the national K2 River Championships, in a thrilling race on a flooded Breede River that was ultimate decided by a tactical gamble in the closing minutes of the race.
Racing against the two determined local crews of Heinrich Schloms and Ernest Van Riet and Paul Marais and Greg Barnard, McGregor and Mocke opted for a slightly wider channel shortly after negotiating the Swellendam Weir, while the two Cape crews gambled on a smaller sneak channel on the inside.
'Tripped the last six kilometres'
"After finishing the first day we came and tripped the last six kilometres because we knew that is where the race would be decided," said McGregor.
"The channel we took was wider but faster, and when we saw the Cape guys going for the sneak we went for it and got a 20-metre lead which we pushed to around 80 metres and then managed to keep that lead all the way to the finish."
McGregor said that the racing had been tricky, particularly when the level of the water in the already flooded river rose after the confluence with a full tributary. "The water was boiling up from underneath you at times, which made it quite difficult, and often bounced you off the slip, so the best place to be was on the tail slip."
'A faultless race'
McGregor said they had to be vigilant as the two Cape crews had tried repeatedly to lose them on the final stage. "They tried a couple of times to get us off the wave, but it is hard to drop guys in this type of water, unless you make a mistake. But fortunately we had a faultless race.
"It was awesome to paddle in water like this," McGregor added. "I think the only scratch we got on our boat was loading it onto our car after the race!"
McGregor has now won a hat-trick of victories on the Canon Breede, and is also on track to completing the unique clean sweep of SA titles that he is the only paddler to have accomplished before.
Titles
He now holds the national river K1 title to go with the K1 river title he won on the Tracker Highlands Challenge, and the SA double-ski title that he won with Mocke on the recent Scottburgh to Brighton.
"It is a feat to win the double-ski and the river K2 title with the same partner," said McGregor.
Schloms and Van Riet finished strongly to take the silver medals from Marais and Barnard, while fourth went to Piers Cruikshanks and Michael Mbanjwa, who were caught by the chasing bunch of Peter Cole and Steve Farrell and Andrew Birkett and Pierre Andre Rabie early on the second stage.
Women's winners
The returning Olympians Jen Hodson and Carol Joyce wrapped up the women's title in convincing showing that tested their lack of long distance training. The Beijing Games' stars raced alone for virtually the entire race to secure the SA K2 women’s gold medals.
"Our second day was much better," said Hodson. "We settled down and got used to the boat moving around, and we were able to put more power into our paddles. We tried to prevent the guys behind us from catching us, which was a fun incentive.
"It was such a big adjustment for us," said Joyce. "You have to use your stabilisers so much more. You have to lower your stroke and use a different technique. But it has been so much fun being back on the river after such a long layoff. It has been amazingly rewarding to be able to be sociable, and to be able to enjoy short term goals, which we don't have sprinting, where you have one big race a year!"
Competition
Joyce added that their title would have had more meaning had they been able to race Alexa Cole and Donia Kamstra, who elected to race in the open class and were not included in the closed women's race that carried tough rules preventing the women's crews from riding the slip waves of male paddlers around them.
"The SA K2 title is a bonus, but it would have been so much sweeter if we had raced them," said Joyce.
"I think we can give them a good run for their money if they come and race us. We were only three minutes behind them on the first day when they were riding slip, and only a minute on the second stage, which is a pretty good sign."
"We had a great time, with exciting bunch riding, tactics, and lots of hanging when you need to, which made it really fun and rewarding for us," said Cole, who finished 21st overall with her partner Kamstra.
"I feel like we really mixed it with the guys which made it a really good challenge."
Other winners
The junior title went to Luke Chalupsky and Jonathan Jacob in an excellent top-20 finish overall. Andrew Birkett and Pierre Andre-Rabie took the under-21 title with their sixth-place overall, while the mixed double title went to the Peninsula pairing of Ian Trautmann and Megan Kelly.
Sisters Suzette and Hanre Maree won the junior girls’ title with an excellent third’place in the women's race overall. The evergreen crew of Roelof Van Riet and Andre Collins, racing in his 31st Breede, comfortably won the Grand Masters race.
RESULTS
MEN
- Hank McGregor/Dawid Mocke 3:54.14
- Ernest van Riet/Heinrich Schloms 3:54.25
- Paul Marais /Greg Barnard 3:54.39 (1st Sub veterans)
- Piers Cruikshanks/Michael Mbanjwa 3:58.43
- Peter Cole/Steve Farrell 3:58.44
- Andrew Birkett/Pierre Andre Rabie 3:58.44 (1st U21)
- Shaun Griffin/Patrick Birkett 3:59.09
- Mike Harris/Brandon Collyer 4:01.49
- Dane Sanvido/Shaun Rice 4:01.49
- Herman Chalupsky/Andre Pohl 4:02.00
- Andre Skowno/Jasper Mocke 4:02.40
- Cornelius Human/Richard Fly 4:03.49
- Juan Maree/Martin van den Berg 4:04.19
- Joe Kearney/Edgar Boehm Jnr 4:05.56
- Andrew Birkett/James Birkett 4:07.05
- Pieter Willem Basson/Mynhardt Marais 4:08.04
- Rory Sandberg/Andrian Bam 4:08.36
- Tom Schilperoort/Adam Bothma 4:08.35
- Richard McMartin/Rory Van Zyl 4:09.13
- Luke Chalupsky/Jonathon Jacob 4:09.26 (1st U18)
WOMEN
- Jen Hodson/Carol Joyce 4:18.15
- Vicky Hind/Tarryn Brown 4:27.22
- Suzette Maree/Hanrie Maree (1st U18) 4:37.27
- Jemma Hofmeyer/Jackie Barnes 4:37.30
- Janet Vorster/Robin Henderson 4:41.15
Source: Canoeing South Africa
