Paddlers shine at Sprint Champs
26 April 2005
The standard of South African sprint canoeing took a noticeable leap forward on the weekend, as three days of thrilling racing unfolded at the national sprint championships at Nagle Dam outside Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.
Olympic hopeful Shaun Rubenstein cemented his status as the premier flat water racer in the country by winning the blue-ribbon 500 metres and 1 000 metres K1 titles, which clinched him a pivotal berth in the national team heading for Europe next month.
"The overall standard was higher than we have ever seen in the past", said event organiser John Oliver.
"Not only did we have a record entry, with more heats and semi-finals, but the level of competition was outstanding. In one of the boy's finals, all nine boats crossed the line within a second of each other."
Shaun Biggs wins Victor Ludorum
Shaun Biggs was rewarded with the top spot in the Victor Ludorum standings for his
consistency. He was involved in many of the epic tussles that took place between the top crews and paddlers, including a thrilling win in a classic men's 3 000 metres K1 race.
Rhodes student Nick Burden provided the shock of the regatta in the 500 metres K1 final against one of the strongest fields in years, blasting past established stars like Ant Stott to give Rubenstein a scare, finishing a close second.
Ant Stott and Matthew Bouman won one of the most keenly anticipated showdowns in the men's 1000 metres K2 event, edging out the classy East Rand crew of Shaun Rubenstein and Michael Mbanjwa.
'Michael raced superbly'
"Michael raced superbly", said Rubenstein, after celebrating Mbanjwa's selection for the World Cup regattas in Poland and Germany next month. "He had a bad race at the Gauteng champs two weeks back, mostly because of nerves. To turn around a week later at the nationals and race like he did was outstanding."
The
500 metres K2 title went to the fancied KwaZulu-Natal crew of Brett Bartho and Michael Arthur in a new SA record time of 1 minute 31 seconds, ahead of Hein van Rooyen and Dawie Gerber.
The Kwazulu-Natal K4 crew of Stott, Bouman, Arthur and Bartho raced phenomenally fast to win the 500 metres gold in 1 minute 24 seconds, a full five seconds faster than the SA record. They also claimed victory in the 1 000 metres in a shade over three minutes.
Record women's field
A record field of women provided top-class racing across all the events, with the honours evenly shared between Nikki Mocke, Jen Hodson, Alexa Lombard and Donia Kamstra.
Jonno Bennett stood head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the boy's races, while Tiffany Kruger did the same in the girl's categories.
After the completion of the championships, the national selectors announced a squad of 10 men and two women to travel to the World Cup in Poznan, with a
further seven athletes to join the tour party for the highly competitive World Cup at Duisburg, which will serve as the final trial for the World Championships in Zagreb in August.
National teams:
Senior Men
Shaun Rubenstein, Graeme Solomon, Michael Mbanjwa, Ant Stott, Matthew Bouman, Brett Bartho, Michael Arthur, Nick Burden, David Gerber, Hein Van Rooyen (Duisburg squad additions) : Scott Humphrey, Tyson Burger, Marcus Melck
Senior Women
Nikki Mocke, Jen Hodgson (Duisburg) Alexa Lombaard, Donia Kamstra, Danica Vorster, Michele Eray
Junior Men
Jono Bennett, Craig Simpkins, Travis Krige, Anthony Collopy, Chris Couve, Lance King, Dane Sanvido, Fouche van Tonder, Stephen Bird, Emile Scheepers, Adrian Gebers, Brent Chiazzari, Brandon Zacharopoulos, Cameron Schoeman, Michael Ngwenya, Calvin Mkoto.
Junior Women
Bianca Beavitt, Kelly Howe, Vicki Chiazzari, Lizzy Chiazzari, Sarah Hook,
Jessica Schoeman.
Source: Canoeing South Africa
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