13 February 2006

Shaun Biggs won the canoeing title that he prizes most as he and his partner Clint Pretorius won a dramatic Hansa Pilsener Umkomaas Marathon on Sunday.

The pair had a slim lead over Len Jenkins and Michael Mbanjwa after the 35-kilometre first stage, and went on to win by a comfortable two-minute margin on an Umkomaas River swollen by heavy midweek rains.

Biggs grew upon the banks of the Umkomaas River, where his family farms, and quickly became one of the most skilled wild water paddlers in the country. He and Sven Bruss produced one of the biggest upsets in the race’s history when they won the event as young upstarts in 2001, ending the decade-long reign of Robbie Herreveld and Graeme Monteith.

'I yearned to win this race'
With Ant Stott sidelined by a mystery illness, the door was open for Biggs and Pretorius to add their names to the elite list of river-racers on the Umko trophy. "I grew up on the banks of this river, and learnt to paddle on it as a kid. I looked up to the guys that were racing then, and yearned to win this race," said Biggs.

Biggs and Pretorius were put under severe pressure by the classy crew of Len Jenkins and Michael Mbanjwa, who caught them very shortly after the start of the second stage. "They put in some serious intervals into the rapids and made us work very hard to get back onto their wave," said Biggs.

The two crews traded places throughout the day until Biggs and Pretorius made their break in a rapid 25 minutes from the end. "I noticed then that they were not getting back onto our wave as quickly as they had done earlier and we put the hammer down and managed to pull away," Biggs explained.

Seized their opportunity
The race leaders were spurred into action by the fast-chasing bunch led by the consistent Darryl and Brett Bartho, who had caught Deon Bruss and Wayne Thompson. The Bruss brothers seized their opportunity in the closing stages of the race once they had the tiring crew of Jenkins and Mbanjwa in sight.

In one of the last rapids the Bartho siblings took a slightly faster line by avoiding some of the bigger waves, and surged to the finish in second place a few boat lengths clear of Jenkins and Mbanjwa, who was exhausted after his efforts in the gruelling Stihl Non-stop Dusi last weekend.

Another paddler sure to have been suffering the after-effects of the non-stop Dusi was Hank McGregor, who finished fifth with Umko legend Robbie Herreveld.

Category winners
Michaelhouse scholar Stephen Bird and his Maritzburg College team-mate Cam Schoeman excelled by winning the junior title with a top 10 finish overall, with similar credit due to Sven Bruss and Laura Thompson, who won the mixed doubles title, with an overall ninth position.

The father and daughter crew of Rick Whitton and Debbie Germiquet were the second mixed doubles crew home, just behind the second-placed junior crew of Adrian Bam and Matthew Hayter.

The race represents a crossroads for Shaun Biggs. As a key member of the SA K4 sprint crew that is committed to qualifying a boat for South Africa at the Beijing Olympics, he will have to bring down the curtain on his river season.

"The Dusi and Umko have been a distraction for Ant (Stott) and me. The other guys are staying 100 percent focussed on their sprint training, and we need to respect their commitment and get back into that routine right away. So, that will probably mean no Hansa Powerade Drak Challenge for us, which will be very sad," said Biggs.

The river season now shifts to the hugely popular Hansa Powerade Drakensberg Challenge in Underberg in two weeks time, on an Umzimkulu river that has also been running high due to the persistent countrywide rains.

RESULTS

Men

	A happy team: Shaun Biggs and Clint Pretorius (Photo: Canoeing South Africa)

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