Rubenstein scores at SA champs
1 June 2004
Shaun Rubenstein put in a stunning performance at the SA Canoe Marathon Championships in Bloemfontein at the weekend to win both senior men's gold medals, just a week after returning from the Olympic Sprint qualifier in Poland.
Rubenstein used his sprint speed to outpace Ant Stott, who won a bronze medal at last year's world marathon champs in Spain, then teamed up with Stott in bizarre circumstances to win the K2 race as well.
Stott and Rubenstein had not sat in a K2 kayak together before racing in the national championships, and they even had to wait until 20 minutes before the start of the senior men's race to try out their combination, as they were borrowing a K2 from a crew that had raced in a master's race earlier that morning.
An end goal
"It feels great", said a bubbly Rubenstein. "I have been training my heart out to try and qualify for the Olympics. When that didn't happen in Poland last weekend, I
felt I wanted to give myself an end goal in August to aim for. That's why I gave the marathon champs a shot."
The win secures a place in the SA Marathon team for Rubenstein, to paddle both the K1 and K2 race at the world marathon champs in Bergen, Norway in August. Stott has secured the K2 berth with Rubenstein, but will have to go to the second trial, in Cape Town, to race against current world champ Hank McGregor, for the last K1 berth in the team.
The K1 race got under way in a bitterly cold wind at the Maselspoort resort outside Bloemfontein, with Rubenstein and Stott leading a four-boat breakaway that included Graeme Solomon and Jacques Theron.
Graeme Solomon dropped off the front bunch after an uncharacteristic swim at the put-in of one of the portages, while Theron, who was feeling unwell, fell out of contention shortly afterwards.
Stott and Rubenstein then paddled side-by-side for 25 kilometres, sharing the "pull", before they settled down to the
end sprint, which Rubenstein won by two seconds.
Easy option, tough option
"Shaun raced well, and has the speed in the sprint", Stott said afterwards. "I had my chance, and I should have made him work a lot harder early on, to test his ability to go the full distance under pressure. But I didn't do that, and instead of taking the easy option, I have made myself take the tough option by having to race Hank (McGregor) for the other K1 place."
In another surprise, defending ladies' champion Alexa Lombard was pipped at the post by fellow Capetonian Nikki Mocke, after the pair had raced side-by-side throughout the women's race.
The K2 racing was held in much warmer conditions, and saw the men's race quickly reduce the frontrunners to four boats after a blisteringly fast start.
Rubenstein and Stott, with less than 20 minutes to get used to each other in their borrowed Eagle kayak, raced alongside Dawid Mocke and Matt Bouman, and two
pairs of siblings, the Bartho brothers Daryl and Brett from Durban, and Chris and Gert van Deventer from Stellenbosch.
Mocke and Bouman fell off the bunch after the first portage, after Bouman ran into trouble with the debilitating "dead-leg" cramps. The three boats stayed together until the final eight kilometres of the 36-kilometre race, when the Bartho brothers were dropped at the second-to-last portage.
Increased intensity
Stott and Rubenstein gradually increased the intensity of their race, and managed to break away from the Van Deventer brothers at the last portage, and raced away to win by around 200 metres.
Alexa Lombard and Donia Kamstra continued their winning way together, after winning the Hansa Powerade Dusi title in January, by dominating and eventually subduing all the other contenders in the ladies' K2 field.
"Ant was amazing", said Rubenstein. "He just doesn't seem to get tired. When I turned around to him with
10 kilometres to go, he said he was feeling strong, and so we started dropping the others off the bunch", added Rubenstein.
"A lot will depend on how the second trial turns out next week", said Rubenstein, when pressed for his plans for the world champs. "But if Ant does the K2 race with me, it will be a huge learning curve for me, because Ant has such incredible experience at world champs level."
Stott got a chance to experience Rubenstein's form earlier this month, when he stayed with the Rubenstein family, and trained with Shaun and Olympian Alan van Coller at Homestead Lake in Benoni. "Shaun and I did try five minutes in a K2 together then, but at that stage my back was very sore, and we quit", said Stott.
'Not just about flat out speed'
Stott drives back to Cape Town to prepare for the second, invitation-only trial, with mixed feelings. The trial will be an effective shootout over 35 kilometres between himself and Hank McGregor.
"Ideally I'd like a full field to be racing, because marathon racing is so tactical. It's not just about flat out speed over the water and portages", he said.
"Going head-to-head with Hank (McGregor) is not ideal. But I will give it my best shot. I desperately want to get into the K1 race, as I know that I can go better than the bronze medal I won last year. It feels quite bizarre that the two guys that medalled in Spain (at the world champs) last year, have to shoot it out to decide the last place in the K1 team", he said.
The second trial, which is an invitation-only affair, will take place at Marina da Game outside Cape Town, over the weekend of 5 - 6 June.
Summary Of results
K1
Men
1. Shaun Rubenstein
2. Ant Stott
3. Graeme Solomon
Women
1. Nicky Mocke
2. Alexa Lombard
3. Tamlyn Bohm
K2
Senior Men
1. Shaun Rubenstein/Ant Stott
2. Gert van
Deventer/Chris van Deventer
3. Darryl Bartho/Brett Bartho (KZN)
Women
1. Alexa Lombard/Donia Kamstra
Source: Canoeing South Africa
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