Team South Africa finished racing on Saturday empty handed, however there were some encouraging results from the day as under 23 star Hamish Lovemore finished fourth in the senior men’s K1 race.
Lovemore, who won the Under 23 and senior races at the South African championships earlier in the year, elected to paddle the senior men’s race and proved that he was not out of his depth finishing fourth overall behind eventual winner Denmark’s Mads Pedersen – who won his second consecutive K1 gold medal.
Spain’s Ivan Alonso finished in second place while Stephane Boulanger from France claimed the bronze medal.
Hank McGregor was the other South African in the race and he finished in the same group as Lovemore but three places behind him in seventh.
Another encouraging result for Team South Africa was the fifth place finish from Josh Smith in the Junior Men’s K1 race in the morning.
Smith expended a lot of energy throughout the race trying to keep himself in the contest, however the effort meant that he had nothing left in the tank at the end.
“It was brutal racing out there,” Smith said after the race. “The other guys didn’t want to pull which was probably their tactic so I ended up doing all the pulling but I have learnt for next time.”
Smith finished second in the recent ICF Ocean Racing World Championship and now added a fifth at the Marathon World Championships to his list of achievements for a career that is only eighteen months old.
Matthew Millward was the other paddler in the Junior Men’s race and he ended in 31st place overall.
Jenna Ward and Melanie van Niekerk were the two paddlers in the Senior Women’s K1 race and Ward finished ninth while Van Niekerk ended in twelfth.
Sunday’s final day of racing will see the junior men’s K2 crews get the action underway in the morning while the senior women and men K1 crews round out the action in the afternoon.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS – ICF CANOE MARATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Day Three
Junior Men’s K1
1. Csanad Sellyei (HUN) 1:40:33
2. Bruno Koloszvari (HUN) 1:40:45
3. Julian Salinas (ARG) 1:40:47
5. Josh Smith (RSA) 1:41:04
31. Matthew Millward (RSA) 1:57:32
Senior Women’s K1
1. Vanda Kiszli (HUN) 2:05:14
2. Zsofia Voros (HUN) 2:05:17
3. Lizzie Broughton (GBR) 2:05:18
9. Jenna Ward (RSA) 2:07:05
12. Melanie van Niekerk (RSA) 2:08:20
Senior Men’s K1
1. Mads Pedersen (DEN) 2:03:38
2. Ivan Alonso (ESP) 2:04:03
3. Stephane Boulanger (FRA) 2:05:29
4. Hamish Lovemore (RSA) 2:07:09
7. Hank McGregor (RSA) 2:07:14
SOUTH AFRICAN MARATHON TEAM
Junior Boys K2: Matthew Millward/Jack Edmonds, Joshua Simpkins/Matthew Coetzer
Senior Ladies K2: Saskia Hockly/Jenna Nisbet, Christie Mackenzie/Bridgitte Hartley
Senior Mens K2: Hamish Lovemore/Hank McGregor, Uli Hart/Kenny Rice
Programme of events:
22 Sun 03/10/2021 7:45:00 K2 Men Juniors
24 Sun 03/10/2021 11:00:00 K2 Women
25 Sun 03/10/2021 13:00:00 K2 Men