Bruce Viaene/Gameplan Media
Andy Birkett and Nicky Notten played a last minute master stroke to come from behind to win the Fish River Canoe Marathon at Cradok on Saturday from Jasper Mocké and visiting French international Cyrille Carré.
Mocké and Carré were the first to negotiate the big Cradock Weir 20 minutes from the end of the race, and were holding all the aces, but Birkett and Notten turned to some detailed local knowledge gleaned from their many days of training on the river to snatch the win in the final few kilometres of the two-day 82 km epic on the mighty Fish River.
Michaelhouse speedsters Matt Millward and Jack Edmonds excelled in taking the junior K2 title and the Canoeing SA junior K2 gold medals with a remarkable sixth place finish overall.
The women's race provided a thriller of a duel between the crew of Christie Mackenzie and Bridgitte Hartley and the world marathon championship medallists Jenna Nisbet and 17 year old Saskia Hockly with Mackenzie and Hartley ultimately prevailing by 2 minutes and 17 seconds.
Dusi stars Thulani Mbanjwa, Khumbulani Nzimande and Nkosi Mabaso romped away to claim the K3 title for Team MyLife, as the race once again fielded the world's biggest entry of these unique three-seater kayaks.
In another world first, Rhodes students took the solitary K4 downriver, despite demolishing it in Keith's Flyover on the first stage, and entrenched themselves as firm crowd favourites by managing to shoot Cradock Weir on their second attempt on day two as part of their fundraiser for the Cradock Cancer Care Unit.
The two K2 crews at the front of the race paddled in black armbands on Saturday as a tribute to the two paddlers who tragically passed away on the first stage of the race on Friday, 53-year-old Pretoria paddler Axel Marggraf and 31-year-old Amanzimtoti resident Dean Chiazzari.
