Champs retain SA K2 title
5 September 2005
Hank McGregor and Len Jenkins retained their SA K2 river title with a stunning come-from-behind victory in rainy weather in the Men's Health/New Balance Breede Canoe Marathon at the weekend.
The duo were 30 seconds off the pace overnight, but they took control of the race within minutes of the final 42-kilometre stage getting under way, and paddled a tactically robust race to win by just less than a minute.
After holing their boat on the first stage, McGregor and Jenkins were determined to assert themselves early on and catch race leaders Darryl and Brett Bartho and the Cape crew of Simon van Gysen and Paul Marais.
Caught the leaders
They flew off the second-stage start line in elapsed time, and caught the leaders within seven minutes. "We really went hard, and once we caught them we were able to slow the pace up and recover," said McGregor.
The three crews stayed together for most of the stage,
through the weirs and the Waterfall Rapid, until a tactical showdown in the palmiet channels, where McGregor and Jenkins made a break and looked to have shaken off the other two boats.
However, the Bartho brothers wisely stayed with the Cape crew, who took a sneak channel that catapulted them into the lead. A stunned McGregor and Jenkins once again had to play catch-up, but this time they kept up the pace, and dropped the Barthos.
With six kilometres to go, they successfully shot the final weir, which marks the end of the channeled section, and then broke away.
Managed to get clear
"We went hard and managed to get clear. We were joking, saying: 'We don't need our tour guides any more', and managed to drop them," said McGregor.
The win ensured that they retained the SA K2 river title that they won in the Vaal Marathon last year, a feat that was emulated by women's winners Alexa Lombard and Donia Kamstra, who were never really
threatened in their five-minute win over Abbey Miedema and Michelle Eray.
The Eastern Cape crew of Greg and Ryan Louw produced one of the best final stage times as they blasted into the top 10 with a solid sixth place overall.
The Cape crew of Dane Sanvido and Lance King wrapped up an overall eleventh place in winning the junior title from Cam Schoeman and Wesley Green and under-16 stars Matthew Tebbitt and Emile Steyn.
Impressive season
For McGregor, the win on the Breede continues an impressive season that started by winning the Hansa Powerade Dusi, and then the Isuzu Berg Marathon. The Durbanite, however, has one major goal for the year - to regain his world marathon championship title in Perth in October.
"It means that I won't be able to race the Hansa Powerade Fish Marathon, which is a shame because I love the race and I'd like to try and win all the major titles in one year. But the worlds must come first," said
McGregor.
"Len Jenkins is back, make no mistake about that," he added. "He has had a quiet start to the year, but he is right back on track now, and is the guy to beat in the Hansa Powerade Fish at the end of the month."
RESULTS
Men
1. Len Jenkins/Hank McGregor 4:30.52
2. Paul Marais/Simon van Gysen 4:31.33
3. Darryl Bartho/Brett Bartho 4:32.47
4. Graeme Solomon/Dawid Mocke 4:33.55
5. Gert van Deventer/Dan Hugo 4:33.57
6. Ryan Louw/Greg Louw 4:35.55
7. Michael Arthur/Matt Bouman 4:37.49
8. Ernest van Riet/PW Basson 4:42.05
9. Francois Ferreira/Heinrich Schloms 4:43.03
10. Michael Stewart Brandon Collyer 4:44.00
Women
1. Alexa Lombard/Donia Kamstra 4:56.45
2. Abbey Miedema/Michelle Eray 5:02.23
3. Kim Rew/Nikki Mocke 5:14.33
Source: Canoeing South Africa
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