Results Are In From SA Marathon Canoeing Championships and Surf Ski World’s Trials

by | Jun 20, 2023 | Canoeing Race Reports, Events & Racing, Paddle, Sports, Surf Ski

The past weekend was a very busy one in St Francis Bay for the South African Canoeing community! Thursday to Saturday saw the flat water Canoe Marathon National Championships taking place for all age categories while Sunday played host to the South African Surfski Trials for the World’s Team.

Read about the Marathon Champs and see the results below and further on find a recap of the Surf Ski Trials and the relevant results from the ocean racing.

SA Canoe Marathon Champs | 15 – 17 June

The titles at the PW Harvey SA Canoe Marathon Champs were spread evenly among the top protagonists with international stars Hank McGregor, Andy Birkett and Bridgitte Hartley all claiming a win apiece over three days of racing on the St Francis Bay canals.

Sa Canoeing Marathons 2023
Andy Birkett claimed the SA K1 title in St Francis Bay on Saturday. (c) James Gibbs Photography / Canoeing South Africa

Thursday’s opening day indicated it was going to be a weekend of big-name domination as McGregor and Hartley did what was expected and secured the men’s and women’s short-course titles.

McGregor beat the potent U/23 paddler Ulvard Hart into second place with Clinton Cook a distant third. In the women’s race, Hartley used the speed that took her to an Olympic medal to beat Nix Birkett, Kira Bester and Jade Wilson to the line in the women’s race.

In Saturday’s much-anticipated Long Course K1 event, current World Marathon Champion Andy Birkett gave a masterclass and showed why he has won multiple world marathon titles. The East London-based international star edged out Hamish Lovemore for a 14-second win in the men’s race, with Hart and McGregor finishing third and fourth after losing contact with the two leaders.

In a tightly-contested women’s K1 race, under 23 paddler Wilson outsprinted her older rivals Christie Mackenzie and Nix Birkett in a tense three-way battle for the title.

Sa Canoeing Marathons 2023
Jade Wilson outsprints Christie Mackenzie and Nix Birkett to claims the SA K1 title in St Francis Bay on Saturday. (c) James Gibbs Photography / Canoeing South Africa

The final day’s action on Sunday, saw the K2 combinations take centre stage and the duo of Lovemore and Clint Cook were able to break away and hold on for a big win over Hank McGregor and Mark Keeling to take the South African men’s title, with Wayne Jacobs and Brad Boulle completing the podium.

In the women’s doubles race, Saskia Hockly and Michelle Burn claimed the gold medals ahead of Nix Birkett and Wilson, with Hartley and Pippa McGregor earning themselves a place on the final step of the podium.

Find the top results from the weekend below. In most cases the top 2 boats from each category in the K1 or K2 races will be selected to represent South Africa at World Marathon Champs though the 2023 squad is not yet official.

Short Course K1 – 4.5km

Men
1. Hank McGregor 21:27
2. Ulvard Hart 21:32
3. Clinton Cook 22:06
4. Mark Keeling 22:09
5. Joshua Fenn 22:13

Women
1. Bridgitte Hartley 24:39
2. Nix Birkett 24:40
3. Kira Bester 24:42
4. Jade Wilson 24:43
5. Pippa McGregor 27:04

K1 Long Course

Senior Men – 30.4 km
1. Andy Birkett 2:23:33
2. Hamish Lovemore 2:23:47
3. Ulvard Hart 2:26:40 (U/23)
4. Hank McGregor 2: 26:43
5. Matthew Fenn 2:27:43 (U/23)

Senior Women – 26.1 km
1. Jade Wilson 2:18:55 (U/23)
2. Christie Mackenzie 2:18:56
3. Nix Birkett 2:18:57
4. Kira Bester 2:19:37 (U/23)
5. Nosipho Mthembu 2:47:39 (U/23)

U/23 Men – 30.4 km
1. Ulvart Hart 2:26:40
2. Matt Fenn 2:27:43
3. Brad Boulle 2:29:38

U/23 Women – 26.1 km
1. Jade Wilson 2:18:55
2. Kira Bester 2:19:37
3. Nosipho Mthembu 2:47:39

Junior Men (U/18) – 21.8 km
1. Zak Jacobs 1:50:11
2. Luke Salmon 1:50:32
3. Cody Stallard 1:52:17 (U/16)

Junior Women (U/18) – 17.5 km
1. Georgia Singe 1:33:08
2. Holly Smith 1:33:23
3. Babette van Rooyen 1:34:39

K2 Long Course

Senior Men
1. Hamish Lovemore / Clint Cook 2:16:01
2. Hank McGregor / Mark Keeling 2:21:07
3. Wayne Jacobs / Brad Boulle 2:21:14

Senior Women
1. Saskia Hockly / Michelle Burn 2:09:40
2. Nix Birkett / Jade Wilson 2:11:38
3. Bridgitte Hartley / Pippa McGregor 2:16:40 (Sub-Vet)

U/23 Men
1. Dave Evans / Hamish Mackenzie 2:24:18
2. Sam Butcher / Matthew Millward 2:24:24
3. Gal Marks / Naor Lombard 3:03:41

Junior Men – 21.8 km
1. Luke Salmon / Bruno Cochrane 1:43:02
2. Jared Shrimpton / Ryley Michael Smith 1:48:07 (U/16)
3. Jayden Janse Van Rensburg / Keegan Vogt 1:50:50 (U/16)

Junior Women – 17.5 km
1. Babette van Rooyen / Neriyah Dill 1:34:57
2. Georgia Singe / Holly Smith 1:34:58
3. Kerry Elliot / Georgia Stone 1:48:58

South Africa Surfski Trials | 18 June

There are not many accolades missing from the impressive paddling CV of Hank McGregor, but on Sunday the 11-time Canoe Marathon World Champion took a step toward filling one of those gaps when he qualified for the SA team to go to the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships.

McGregor has never won the official surfski world championships since its inception in 2003, but is hoping to fill that gap on his list of successes in Perth, Australia, in December at the World Ocean Racing Championships.

By beating Matt Fenn to win the Canoeing South Africa Surfski Trials at St Francis Bay on Sunday, McGregor has earned himself a place on the South African team to travel to Australia at the end of the year, and so taken a small step toward adding the missing world title to his CV.

“I have never been shy to tell everyone that that is one title that is not in my trophy cabinet that I really want to win, so hopefully I can fix that in Perth in December,” said McGregor, who does have two second-place finishes after ending as runner up in the 2017 and 2022 World Championships.

On Sunday, McGregor crossed the line in a time of 1:27:57, nine seconds ahead of Fenn with Ulvard Hart, Mark Keeling and Dawid Mocké completing the top five men who are in line to earn selection for the South African team.

One paddler missing from the start line was Kenny Rice, the 2022 World Champion from Portugal who is ill and unable to take part in the trials.

“The conditions were pretty passive out there today (Sunday), and I managed to get into the lead group of five after about eight kilometres,” said McGregor.

“The route was a triangular course, which was pretty fair and fair is what they want for a national trial.

“On the way back with about four kays to go I managed to get away with Matt. We had a slight headwind and going with a bit of a swell I was able to get ahead of him at the wave line coming into the finish and get the win.”

In the women’s race, U23 Kira Bester paddled to a 10-second win over 2021 Women’s World Champion Michelle Burn, with Jade Wilson celebrating the SA K1 title she won on Saturday with a third place less than 24-hours later, just six seconds behind Burn. Completing the top five were Georgia Singe and Melanie van Niekerk.

The 2023 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships are due to take place on December 1-2, with the opening ceremony on November 30 and a spare “weather day” on December 3 if needed.

South Africa Surfski Trials Results

Men
1 Hank Mcgregor 1:27:57
2 Matthew Fenn (1st U23) 1:28:06
3 Ulvard Hart (2nd U23) 1:28:29
4 Mark Keeling 1:28:33
5 Dawid Mocke 1:29:43

Women
1 Kira Bester (1st U23) 1:39:09
2 Michelle Burn 1:39:19
3 Jade Wilson (2nd U23) 1:39:25
4 Georgia Singe (1st U18) 1:39:58
5 Melanie Van Niekerk 1:42:37

For more information go to www.canoesa.org.za

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