18 October 2005

Alexa Lombard and Donia Kamstra produced a breathtaking performance to claim the silver medal in the women's K2 race at the World Marathon Championships on the Swan River in Perth, Australia on the weekend.

The Capetonians went toe-to-toe with the classy Hungarian crew of Renata Csay and Kornelia Szonda throughout the 38-kilometre race, all the way through to the final end sprint.

"I'm absolutely stoked," said Lombard, who last year finished sixth in a fast women's K1 race, and then came home sixth with Kamstra in the K2 race the following day.

This year Lombard opted to sit out the K1 race, which was held in hot and gusty conditions, to save herself for the K2 challenge.

'Something I've wanted forever'
"It's something I've really wanted forever, to get a medal," Lombard said. "It was just the most fantastic race I've ever done in my life."

"We've worked hard the last few months and it's just great to achieve what you set out to achieve," added Kamstra.

The other South African women's crew in action, Kim Rew and Nikki Mocke, also made it into the top 10.

"We set out to do the best we could," Rew said. "We knew it would be a very tough field. We were hoping to do a bit better than we finished, but it was a hard race and we learned a lot."

Narrow miss
It could easily have been two medals for the SA team, as Shaun Rubenstein and Shaun Biggs lost a nail-biting end sprint for the last medal in the men's K2 showdown on Sunday.

The two started strongly in the lead pack until the third lap, but dropped off after having difficulty at a portage.

"I was just so amazed at Shaun (Rubenstein)", Biggs said afterwards. "He was so strong, especially when you consider that he raced 38 kilometres really hard [on Saturday].

"I think our weaknesses were just at the portage, so maybe if we work on that we can come back next year and be on the podium," Biggs said.

Kelly Howe and Tiffany Kruger were fourth in the junior K2 race, and Fouche van Tonder and Adrian Gebers were eighth in the boys' K2.

K2 Senior Men

	Alexa Lombard (right) and Donia Kamstra prepare to portage during the 2005 World Championships in Perth (Photo: Canoeing South Africa)

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