23 February 2004

The visiting Czech slalom canoeing team won the weekend’s Mazda Drifter international event in Clarens, which provided a showcase for the skills of the South African K1 men’s team. The cold, rainy conditions did not hamper the paddlers, or dampen the enthusiasm of the spectators.

Ace Czech paddler Andrei Kova proved that the C1 canoes were best suited to the technical course on the Ash River in Clarens, and turned in the fastest combined time over his two runs, after a clear first run, and a solitary touch on a gate in his second run.

World champ Stepanka Hilgertova turned in a classy display to wrap up the ladies’ competition in typically dominant fashion, with Cameron McIntosh leading the South African team challenge, as the first K1 male athlete.

Faultless first run
McIntosh picked up two penalties on his second run, after a faultless first run, but was fast enough to secure the K1 category win. His rival in the Czech team Ondrea Raab was blown out of contention by a disaster on his first run, in which he picked up a 50-second penalty for missing a gate altogether.

Fellow South African team members Guy Collyer and Alick Rennie were hot on McIntosh’s stern, but had to be content to finish behind both of the visiting Czech K1 women paddlers.

“It was a technical course that in many ways felt like an artificial course”, said Alick Rennie, who represented South Africa in this discipline in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. “There were sections where there were some tricky off-sets that required careful paddling and lots of homework”, he added.

Important training
For McIntosh, the event provided important training for the SA Champs, which take place on the same stretch of water in a few weeks’ time, and a handful of weeks before the World Cup on the new artificial course at Athens, where the final places for the 2004 Olympics will be decided.

“Taking the riskier straight line through the hole in the middle of the course was the best move of the day for me”, said McIntosh. “In raw time I more than halved my time off the leading K1M since the Worlds in Augsburg last July but there is lots more work to be done in the next nine weeks. I cannot for one second relax as there is some much needed speed to be found before the 25th of April at the Olympic selections”, he added.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

	Cameron McIntosh was South Africa's best performer against a very strong Czech team.

	Theron takes Berg River 2003 Jenkins, Lombard win Fish 2003 Stott, Bruss take Umkomaas 2004 2004 SA Single Ski title shared Stott, Dreyer rule Dusi 2004 Stott, Dreyer win 50-Miler McGregor wins World Champs Bruss brothers win in Ireland Jenkins/Theron win SA K2 Champs Bruss brothers win Down Under McGregor is the K1 king Canoeing, rafting & kayaking in SA Bartho wins SA Wild Water Champs

	Canoeing South Africa