McGregor finally bags SA K1 title
21 August 2006
Hank McGregor achieved a life-long goal by winning the SA K1 River title with a convincing victory in the two-day Tracker Highlands Challenge that ended on Sunday.
He extended his overnight lead of one minute to a final three-minute victory margin over Jacques Theron of Gauteng in a fast-paced race contested on icy Liebenbergsvlei waters.
McGregor's flawless second stage was in sharp contrast to his first stage, on which he came close to surrendering a lead that he had worked hard to establish.
In the closing stages of the first leg on Saturday, McGregor was leading by almost three minutes when he entered a thicket of trees in the river.
'My lifejacket got snagged'
"My lifejacket got snagged by a branch, and I was basically
pulled out of my boat," said McGregor. "It was an awkward swim, and I reckon it must have taken me close on two minutes to get back into my boat. I was stoked to get to the finish still in the lead," he added.
"It has been a really great race," McGregor said. "We have been looked after royally by the locals, the organizers and the sponsors, who made sure that a very strong field was present."
Jacques Theron made a serious challenge on the second stage that saw him move up from overnight third to take Clint Pretorius' second place.
'Finally!'
"Finally!" said McGregor after taking delivery of the SA K1 gold medal. The rugged Durbanite has won just about every major marathon canoeing title on offer, but the national K1 crown that he prized somehow eluded him every year.
"Dusi queen" Abbey Miedema took the women's SA K1 title with an eight-minute win over Antje Manfroni, who is making an impressive comeback to competitive paddling
after a lengthy layoff.
Miedema scarcely put a paddle wrong over the 70 kilometres of the race and gradually opened up an early lead that she took from the initial breakaway group of Manfroni and Cape racer Bianca Beavitt.
Beavitt ran into trouble in some trees and was not able to get back into contention, while Manfroni battled gamely in second, despite not having an ideal preparation base for this long distance event.
'It is a great river to race on'
"It is a great river to race on, with technical challenges and a good flow all the way," Miedema said afterwards. "I really enjoyed the paddle and had everything go really well during the race."
Plucky Gauteng junior Grant van der Walt took the under-18 honours, despite suffering a dose of glandular fever and being urged to "take it easy" by his doctor. He finished thirteenth overall.
RESULTS
Men
1. Hank McGregor 4:23.35
2. Jacques Theron
4:26.27
3. Clint Pretorius 4:27.31
4. Barry Lewin 4:27.32
5. Brett Bartho 4:27.43
6. Mike Harris 4:28.22
7. Michael Mbanjwa 4:29.10
8. Chris van Deventer 4:29.13
9. Piers Cruikshanks 4:30.05
10. Doug Bird 4:30.46
Women
1. Abbey Miedema 4:51.28
2. Antje Manfroni 4:59.06
3. Bianca Beavitt 5.02.19
4. Laura Thompson 5:02.23
5. Danica Vorster 5:05.21
Source: Canoeing South Africa
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