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South Africa's world champion paddler

24 October 2011

Hank McGregor won the 2011 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships K1 title in Singapore on the weekend. The South African dominated the 35-kilometre race from start to finish, defying convention and leaving the canoeing world agog at his performance.

After leaving a field littered with former world champions reeling in his wake, McGregor said: "I am utterly stoked!"

"I guess you can say it has been one hell of a year!" he added, reflecting on a year that has seen him totally dominating river, flatwater marathon and surfski racing, and becoming the first paddler to hold every single and double title in a calendar year.

"I am so chuffed for my Team Best4 Kayak Centre and my supporters who backed me all the way, even when I was determined to do things differently," he added. "I proved that it is possible to win a tough race like the Hansa Fish and then go on to win a world title two weeks later."

Sceptical

McGregor attracted plenty of sceptical attention at the event because he chose to race a kayak fitted with pedals and an overstern rudder, made by a Durban kayak manufacturer, instead of using European sprint kayaks with understern rudders fitted with t-bars.

"I was so comfortable racing in a boat that I know well. It weighed in at a fraction underweight, so I had to add some extra weight to my Attack, which I helped design with the Kayak Centre team. I am so chuffed for them," he said.

Racing in hot and humid conditions at the marina in Singapore Harbour, and using a unique floating football pitch for a 100-metre portage at the end of each of the seven laps, McGregor started alongside multiple world champion Manuel Busto Fernandes, defending champ Ben Brown of Britain and fellow-South African Shaun Rubenstein, another former holder of the marathon world crown.

From the start, McGregor took control of the race and by the second lap he was racing alone and pulling away, defying conventional tactics that see strong paddlers conserving energy for closing stages of the race.

Tactical trump card

By the fourth lap he had more than a minute lead, and decided to play another tactical trump card that had the South African supporters in the huge crowd holding their collective breaths.

"I stopped paddling and put down my paddles for about 45 seconds," said McGregor. "I was pulling away and felt totally in control, but I knew that the four-boat chasing bunch would have to work together to try and reel me in. It was really hot and humid, so I just waited for them to catch me."

Two former world champions fell by the wayside early on. Ben Brown was an early withdrawal and soon after that the Spanish legend Busto Fernandes also called it a day.

Once McGregor had rejoined the chasing group they tried desperately to shake him off in a series of intervals and aggressive tactical moves to try and force him off the outside of the bunch, but to no avail.

On the fifth lap portage, McGregor stumbled at the takeout, dropping his paddle into the harbour waters. However, he recovered his composure and put in a superhuman sprint that saw him race right back onto the bunch.

Final lap

Once the bunch realised they could not shake McGregor off, they slowed the pace right down to try and conserve energy, banking on their chances of winning the end-sprint. That allowed two following groups to catch them, increasing the front bunch to nine athletes going into the final lap.

McGregor's superior barefoot portaging again set matters up perfectly and he streaked away in the lead with just his teammate Rubenstein and a Spanish and Czech Republic athlete able to stay with him.

The final lap ended with an unusual turn 500 metres from the finish that took the field under a bridge on the Marina, and with the Czech paddler making a final charge, McGregor raced a carefully pre-planned line between two bridge pillars that could only allow one kayak through, forcing the front bunch into single file.

He turned for home to raucous support from the large South African Masters Cup contingent, and held on to win by half a boat-length, and claim his second world marathon K1 title.

'I was just feeling good'

"I didn't plan to go it alone for the first half of the race, I was just feeling good," said McGregor.

"When I stopped I took time to have some juice and the decision to bide my time was just because I felt in control. Luckily I had enough gas in the tank at the end!"

The win will be particularly satisfying for McGregor, whose first world marathon championship title was accompanied by fury from the local Spanish supporters as Busto Fernandes was sanctioned for his tactics in the final neck-and-neck endsprint with McGregor.

The who's who of canoeing was here this year, which makes this win especially sweet," said McGregor.

Difficult conditions

Conditions were difficult for the athletes, with extreme heat and humidity aggravated by choppy water and sizeable waves from passing ferries on the harbour. McGregor took on large amounts of water during the race and finished with a boat substantially heavier than he would have liked.

"The SA boys and girls cleaned up here," said McGregor. "I guess anyone who has trained in the valley for the Dusi will be able to adjust to conditions like we had here."

Earlier in the day, Alexa Cole added a gutsy fifth in the women's K1 race.

Earlier, the South African under-23 and Masters paddlers had set the tone for a fantastic championship for the Rainbow Nation by making regular trips to the podium despite racing in extreme heat and humidity, and through a torrential rainstorm.

Under-18 successes

In the very tightly contested under-18 races Maritzburg College schoolboy Donovan Wewege was in contention for most of his race and fell just short of medalling with an impressive fifth place. Former world champ and a fellow College Old Boy Ant Stott described Wewege's race as "brilliant."

In the junior girls' race, St Johns DSG pupil Emma Horner equalled Wewege's feat with a solid fifth in the u-18 girls K1 race, fighting her way to the front of the chasing pack after a difficult start on the extreme outside.

In the u-23 K1 races, South Africa secured two seventh places from Jenna Starr, while former senior world K2 champ Cam Schoeman struggled with a leaky K1 to finish off the podium pace and seventh in the men's event.

Every South African doubles crew that entered the Masters Cup that precedes the start of the world championships proper raced onto the podium, setting an upbeat mood in the crowd of senior and junior paddlers that was out in vocal support of their elders.

Masters 35-39 silver

Brothers Neil and Sean Evans, racing in the 35-39 years age group bagged a silver medal, despite Neil slipping, falling and dropping the canoe on the slippery plastic covering over the synthetic soccer pitch that the portage is run over.

James Tutton and Daynie Loots, teaming up for the first time as a late entry mixed doubles crew and won the bronze in the 40-44 year age group, with Loots adding to the gold medal that she had won in her K1 event from the first day.

In the 45-49 year age group, despite battling with the heat and injury, Brendon Thompson and Derek Hauptfleisch won silver, despite Hauptfleisch having to carry the kayak on his own on three of the five portages. Compatriots Bruce Banfield and Gavin Steyl followed them home, just on a minute later to claim the bronze.

In the 50-54 age group, Paddy Strickland and Bruce Wenke had a storming race to claim the silver behind the victorious British crew, even though Wenke fell at the third portage, when the boat moved away from the jetty as he made his move to get onto it.

The fall resulted in the canoe capsizing and led to a delay as it had to be emptied of water.

K2s

Luck deserted Ant Stott and Graeme Solomon in the K2 race; they were well placed in the front group when they ran into problems with their rudder on lap three.

They stopped in the middle of the Singapore Marina to try and remedy the problem but after soldiering on they were forced to withdraw from the race.

Behind them the popular crew of Michael Mbanjwa and Eric Zondi, the first black K2 crew to represent South Africa at the World Marathon Championships, finished in tenth place after playing a dominant role in the second chasing bunch throughout the race.

Mbanjwa and Zondi looked out of sorts at the portage takes out on the unique floating soccer field in the Marina, with several boats being dragged over their craft on the second portage. However, they used their excellent running skills with the boat to good advantage to erase any time lost at the take-outs.

SAinfo reporter