Hansa Fish Canoe River Marathon 2012- SA K1

We decided to head down to Cradock a little earlier than previous years just to get 1 more tripping session in before the race. When we left PMB I was not feeling 100%, I had a really sore throat and sinuses. We did the shorter trips in the begging of the week so I had time to get better! The tripping part of fish is always super fun! I tripped with the international crew from the Czech Republic for the first two days then on the third day was lucky enough to trip with Len jenkins which was pretty sweet!
The day before race day we tripped the first 7km of Day 1, from just below Gassridge Dam to Kieths flyover. I was pretty nervous to shoot Keiths but after a few wise tips from my Dad I shot it successfully!

Day 1
It was a tad chilly at the start but it slowly warmed up. It was a lemaarn start so it was essential to have a good clean start. I started on the far left away from all the chaos next to Jauque Theron who had a super blits start so I snuck onto his wave and he pulled me into a good position on front bunch across the Dam. My portage was good and put in in about top 15 overall, it was then time for keiths which went past in a blur. A group of 4 caught me just after keiths consisting of Ryan Louw, Clint Cook, Stu Mclearn and Micheal Mbanjwa. After about 5km or so we went through a rapid all together and after a few paddle clashes I was the unlucky one to swim! I also popped my shoulder but quickly put it back into place while trying to grab my paddle and boat. After the quick Dip in the cold water the Czech paddler Jakub caught me and I hopped onto his wave for a while but after the first portage I hopped into my boat and fell right over which then made me loose the wave. From then on it was a relatively chilled paddle with Loveday Zondi to the End! I had a 1min 16sec lead over the next junior- Louis Hattingh which was looking super strong as usual!

Day 2

We arrived to a misty cold start with tired bodies but everyone was eager to start and get the end! I started in elapsed time with the guys I finished with the day before. Luckily with Czech paddler started 10seconds behind us so we were hoping for a fast wave to the finish. Loveday Zondi and I hung on for dear life for just about the whole day until I had a silly swim just after Marlow Chute. It was a quick swim and managed to catch up to Loveday again. I didn't shoot Cradock as I was scared of hurting my shoulder like the previous day so opted for the short portage. It was then a mad dash to the finish. With about 50m togo Andy Birkett Caught loveday and myself and dominated the end sprint! I ended up 22nd K1 and 1st junior.
Everything just went super smoothly and I was chuffed to have such a good race! Thanks to the organizers for a super slick race and to my mom for driving around the Karoo seconding me! A big thanks to Kayak Centre for my Full kevlar Sniper, Gara Racing Paddles, Best 4 HealthCare and Team Jeep. Now its time to buckle down and crack these final exams at school!

Muzz.