Classy field for Fish River Marathon
25 September 2008
Two athletes that posted impressive victories in major international paddling events on opposite sides of the world this past weekend have confirmed that they will combine to challenge for the Hansa Powerade Fish River Canoe Marathon K2 championship at the beginning of October.
Johannesburg schoolboy Grant van der Walt won a silver medal in the Boys' K1 race at the World Marathon Championships in Tyn Nad Vltavou in the Czech Republic, while Hank McGregor powered to an impressive win in the US Surf Ski Championships in San Francisco.
Deal
McGregor, who is the defending K2 champion after winning the Hansa Powerade Fish title with Len Jenkins in 2006, struck a deal with Van der Walt to race together for the prestigious Fish title earlier in the year.
However, their opportunities to train and race together have been severely limited by Van der Walt's commitment to training for the flatwater marathon worlds.
"We got into a boat together on the weekend of the SA K4 champs, and we also raced the K4s together," said McGregor. "It won’t take long for us to click and we are both in really good shape, so we are looking forward to the race."
2007 results
In last year's singles championship race - the Hansa Powerade Fish alternates between singles and doubles each year - McGregor finished second behind Len Jenkins, with Van der Walt taking third and becoming the first junior to finish in the top three overall.
That result makes the combination of McGregor and Van Der Walt intimidating, and it also makes them odds-on favourites to win the race title in Cradock next weekend. If that happens then Van der Walt will become the first junior to win the race overall.
The Parktown Boys High School matric pupil travelled to the world champs as the defending champion in the Boys' K1 division, and came away with a silver medal after losing a thriller to British youngster Ed Rutherford.
Surf ski title
On the other side of the Atlantic, McGregor continued his winning streak with a runaway victory in the US National Surf Ski Championships in San Fransisco, where he led home a South African 1-2-3, with runner up Dawid Mocke and Steve Woods filling the remaining places on the podium.
McGregor has scarcely lost a race in the past 12 months. Since winning the Durban Surf Ski World Cup in emphatic fashion in July, he has gone on to defend his titles in the Isuzu Berg, Tracker Highlands Challenge and Canon Breede River marathons.
In the Tracker race McGregor and Van Der Walt were a clear cut above the rest of the elite field that assembled for the SA K1 championship event.
Unique feat
McGregor is also on track to repeat his unique feat of winning the national river K1 and K2 titles in the same year as winning the SA single and double ski titles. With three of those titles already behind his name, all that is outstanding is the single ski title decider at the annual Hansa Knysna Sedgefield race in mid-November.
The Hansa Powerade Fish this year will decide the Eastern Cape K2 river championships. But as McGregor is quick to point out, the fact that it does not carry a national title does not diminish its status in the slightest.
"The Hansa Powerade Fish is a massive race, even if it doesn't have SA K2 status," said McGregor. "The top paddlers all want to win it. You only have to look through the list of guys that have won the race to realise that it is one of the most prestigious titles around."
Czech women
The Czech women who shook the 2006 Hansa Powerade Fish River Canoe marathon by becoming the first internationals to lift the coveted title have also confirmed their entry for this year's event.
Michala Mruzkova and Katerina Vacikova will jet into Port Elizabeth 10 days before the race to allow them time to acclimatise and recce the river for the defence of the title they won at the last K2 championship race.
Mruzkova raced for the Czech Republic at the Olympic Games, where she made the final of the women's 500m K2 with Jana Blahova.
Race record
Her combination with wild water champion Vacikova proved hugely successful in 2006, when they won the women's K2 title and shattered the race record, despite taking a swim at Cradock Weir at the end of the race.
Last year Mruskova returned to challenge for the K1 title and finished second to Abbey Miedema – a repeat of her 2005 K1 result - in a thrilling women's race.
Mruskova is an avid supporter of the Fish and enthusiastically embraces the challenge of long distance racing at the end of her mid-year sprinting and wild water season in Europe. "It is a great event that we really enjoyed, especially because it was our first major race together," said Mruzkova.
Real needle
As a classy wild water racer she introduces real needle into the women's race, as she is willing to attempt all the difficult obstacles that traditionally the top female paddlers have the luxury of portaging around, such as Keith's Flyover and Cradock Weir.
"The South African girls are really strong on the flat sections of the river, so we try to make up time in the rapids," said Mruskova.
With the experience of three Hansa Powerade Fish marathons behind her, and the big Olympic sprint training base behind her, Mruskova will fancy her chances of adding a second K2 title to her paddling CV.
The Hansa Powerade Fish River Canoe Marathon will get under way at Grassridge dam on Friday 3 October and finishes in Cradock on Saturday 4 October. More information can be found at Hansa Powerade Fish River Canoe Marathon.
Source: Canoeing South Africa
