29 August 2006

The star-studded KwaZulu-Natal crew of Darryl and Brett Bartho, Barry Lewin and Clint Pretorius held off a ferocious challenge from Gauteng to win the Toyota Prado SA K4 title at Shongweni Dam on the weekend.

The four went toe-to-toe with the Gauteng crew of Jacques Theron, Fouche van Tonder, Hein van Rooyen and Michael Mbanjwa over the two-leg competition on the 9.5-kilometre course at the picturesque dam outside Hillcrest.

Strong end sprint
It took a strong end sprint on both days for the KZN crew to hold off their inland rivals and walk off with the SA title with the best combined time, just two seconds faster than the Gautengers.

Adding to the excitement of the racing was another strong KwaZulu-Natal crew, made up of Hank McGregor, Wayne Wilson, Steve Woods and Marc Holtzhausen. They were always on the front bunch, and finished third, just 20 seconds adrift over the two legs.

"It was the most exciting K4 racing we have seen for many years," said race organiser Justin Chadwick. "The big turnout of crews and the standard of the racing bodes well for the future of K4 racing."

Women
The champion women's team of Danica Vorster, Tiffany Kruger, Michelle Eder and Nathalie Veckranges set the only new record of the weekend, largely due to the fact that the course was 400 metres longer than usual, making their time in the women's race remarkable.

The George Campbell school crew of Brett Binnekade, Warrick McNicol, Dwayne Powell and Alastair Campbell won the junior title in impressive style, while the Gauteng boys' team of Martin van den Bergh, Joshua Wadge, Martin de la Rey and Frans Smit scooped the gold medal in the Boys' under-16 event from the lively Lembethe CC U16 crew.

The event also hosted a novel challenge to clubs to enter crews that weighed over 400 kilograms. The new K400 class saw Stella downing the vocal Umzinyathi crew in two very close races.

The weigh-in showed the Umzinyathi team at 448 kilograms, compared to Stella's 429 kilograms; as a result weight was added to the Stella boat to bring them in line.

RESULTS

Men

	KZN lead Gauteng in a closely contested clash at the SA K4 Championships (Photo: Canoeing South Africa)

	McGregor finally bags SA K1 title SA steady at Canoe Polo Worlds McGregor adds Berg to title list SA wins Surf Ski World Cup SA's canoe marathon queen SA man takes G4 Challenge Pretorius wins Molokai Challenge Records galore at Dusi 2006 Three world-class canoe marathons

	Canoeing South Africa

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