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Fresh from his victory in the Breede River Canoe Marathon on the weekend, Eastern Cape local Greg Louw is eyeing glory in his hometown major at the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon in Cradock on 10 and 11 October.
Louw partnered four times Dusi champ Andy Birkett to a stunning win on the Breede River beating K1 World Marathon Champ Hank McGregor and his partner Jasper Mocké to the line, which earned them the SA K2 River Marathon title.
Louw and Birkett have been holed up in Plettenberg Bay on an intense training camp ahead of their K2 bid at the World Marathon Championships in Oklahoma City on September 28th, and the win on the Breede was part of their training plans and a very welcome confidence booster.
"To be able to win the race, where I have a long history of admin and problems, is great, and to win against athletes of the class of a world champion in Hank McGregor and Jasper Mocké is awesome," said Louw.
The 28 year old will now fine tune his preparations with Birkett, who last year won the Under 23 World Marathon Championship title in Copenhagen, for their bid against the fastest senior men's crews in the world.
While this remains his main focus, the chirpy Cradock raised athlete is also finding it hard not to look forward to the 2014 Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon, which is handily placed less than two weeks after the Marathon World Champs in the USA.
Central to that excitement is the fact that Len Jenkins - the paddlers who has won every single K1 title since the turn of the new millennium - won't be racing this year, and the juggernaut Hank McGregor has never won a K1 title on the Hansa Fish.
"I think the race will be wide open this year," speculates Louw. "I reckon you will see a slightly slower race, with bigger bunches."
Louw warned that all round athletes like Birkett and Lance Kime will be factor in the title race. "Watch Lance Kime at the first portage at the dam," warned Louw.
Louw is hoping to take his current K2 form into the Hansa Fish this year and improve on his fourth place in the last K1 championship race in 2012, and shuns the notion that the expectation of the Cradock locals will place extra pressure on his shoulders.
"Hank (McGregor) is the one under pressure!" says Louw. "I enjoy the support of the locals. I get these cheers and encouragement from all the local farmers who bring their braais down to the river. I love it!"
Louw says his race plans will hinge around staying in touch with what he expects to be a large bunch of paddlers approaching Cradock weir, twenty minutes from the end of the race, where he believes he might have an advantage.
"As long as the left hand side of the weir is open for me I will have a chance," says Louw, referring to his penchant for shooting the massive weir down the sheer left hand side usually shunned by the paddlers in favour of the sloped larger right hand side of the weir wall.
Can the younger of the two Louw siblings race his way onto the podium at a K1 Hansa Fish? It certainly won't be for a lack of hometown support.
The Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon takes place on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 October 2014. More information can be found at www.fishmarathon.org.za
