The South African canoeing team ended the Masters Cup with another nine medals, four of them gold, giving the seniors, Under 23 and juniors paddlers the perfect confidence boost ahead of the start of the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships on Thursday.
The day of K2 racing ended with the husband-and-wife team of Hank and Pippa McGregor winning gold in their mixed doubles race, after Allan Hold and Pete O’Connor won gold in their 70-74 race, Wayne Jacobs and Ricci Talevi repeated that feat in the 40-44 age group title decider, and Colin Wilson and his partner Ronald Pronk bagged the 60-64 gold.
Hold and O’Connor started the day in the best fashion possible, winning the team’s first gold while compatriots Kevin Oliver and Murray Mackenzie crossed the line shortly afterwards to claim the silver medal.
The 50-54 K2 race saw Team SA claim another two medals as Pieter Engelbrecht and Gustav Radloff took silver and the crew of Richard Lowe and Michael Stewart added the bronze.
Brendon Thompson and Brad Fisher added another medal in the 55-59 race with their third place finish before the 60-64 age group race yielded another two medals, the gold won by Colin Wilson and Ronald Pronk and a bronze medal won by Colin Simpkins and Shaun Rice.
In all Team South Africa’s Masters won nine Masters Cup medals in the doubles races, four of them gold, two silver and three bronze, to go with the six singles medals they won on Monday.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
ICF CANOE MARATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
PONTE DE LIMA PORTUGAL MASTERS CUP
K2 Men 70-74
1 Allan Hold/Peter O’Connor RSA 1:20:13.48
2 Kevin Oliver/Murray Mackenzie RSA 1:24:30.40
3 Chris Skellern/James Parker GBR 1:29:12.11
K2 Men 35-39
1 Rui Magalhaes/Joaquim Cruz POR 1:24:35.58
2 David Flecha/Pablo Zamora ESP 1:24:37.00
3 José Maciel/Nuno Silva POR 1:24:45.98
7 Alex Roberts/M.J.Robb RSA 1:28:44.22
15 John De Villiers/Loveday Zondi RSA 1:36:27.27
K2 Men 40-44
1 Riccardo Talevi/Wayne Jacobs RSA 1:21:16.51
2 Antonio Polo/Alberto Pigueiras ESP 1:23:02.58
3 Santiago Cruz/Jesus Rodriguez ESP 1:24:44.78
16 Ernest Van Riet/Heinrich Schloms RSA 1:37:04.77
17 Matthew Ballenden/Waldo Van der Linde RSA 1:37:31.14
K2 Men 50-54
1 Raul Gonzalez/Jose Castro ESP 1:25:03.23
2 Pieter Englebrecht/Gustav Radloff RSA 1:26:42.45
3 371 Richard Lowe/Michael Stewart RSA 1:27:55.04
K2 Men 55-59
1 Johan Brekke/Anders Andersen NOR 1:28:57.57
2 Batenko Vadym/Claudio Bazzini ITA 1:30:01.68
3 Brendon Thompson/Brad Fisher RSA 1:30:42.29
4 João Monteiro/Alberto Fernandes POR 1:32:18.59
5 Bruce Wenke/Herman Chalupsky RSA 1:33:27.30
K2 Men 60-64
1 Colin Wilson/Ronald Pronk RSA 1:30:03.32
2 Per Horl/Johan Dahl 1:32:32.81
3 Colin Simpkins/Shaun Rice RSA 1:34:29.73
K2 Mix 35-49
1 Hank McGregor/Pippa McGregor RSA 1:11:13.44
2 Ana Valentim/Nuno Henriques POR 1:11:52.71
3 Ivan Dominguez/Raquel Rodriguez ESP 1:12:00.48