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Hi ,
As the river season winds down in the Western Cape, after the Breede at the beginning of next month, the baton gets handed over to the other provinces who will kick off with their own river seasons.
KZN have already had a couple of "season openers", and have a few more scheduled on the upper Umgeni over the next few weeks.
The next major race, after the Breede, will be the South African K1 Championships, which will be held on the Liebenbergsvlei river near Reitz in the Free State (follow the star to Bethlehem and hit a right), on the 11 - 12 September.
Guaranteed fast flowing, and clean water (albeit at fridge temperature), is a hallmark of the race. With national titles on the line, there will, undoubtedly, be a solid field. Coupled with the fact that the Gautengers are world beaters at throwing a proper bash, it promises to be a fine weekend. Just remember your blanky and Myprodol.
The calendar thereafter becomes a smorgasbord of exciting events in most of the provinces, on the sea and on the rivers, building up to the Fish in early October.
What a change to this time last year when we were scrambling to host anything at all.
Some exciting news on the international front.
With the Aussies and Kiwi's scrambling back to the safety of their respective bubbles after the Olympics, and a few other nations experiencing difficulties in international travel, the ICF are scratching to get the requisite number of nations, and continents, to the World Sprint Championships in order for it to be recognised as such. We have received a last minute appeal to enter a women's K4 team, who will be assisted to attend the event.
So, in a couple of weeks' time our barbarians team of Esti, Bridgitte, Michelle Burn and Zara Wood will be lining up against the world's best in Copenhagen, in addition to the normal program of events.
The senior World Championships will be preceded by the Junior & U23 World Championships, to be held in Portugal next weekend (our team is leaving on Monday), and the Olympic Hopes regatta in Racice (Czech Republic) the following weekend (10 - 12 Sept) where we will have a substantial team who will have the experience of top international competition.
As soon as they return, our marathon paddlers will be leaving for Romania.
It's all happening.
An omission on my behalf on the reporting of the Berg last week (for which I received counselling from my wife), was the fantastic performance of team Birkett. This is the first time in the history of the race that a husband and wife have won the men's and women's titles in the same year, or even ever.
Nix Birkett managed to hold off the attentions of Jordan Peek, with dominant performances on all of the days.
Having the 4 top women squeezed into 10 placings is testament to some exciting racing, with Berg stalwart Bianca Beavitt rounding off the podium and Tracey Oellermann coming 4th.
There were a host of respected male paddlers reflected after these 4 on the results list. Some dented ego's, no doubt.
For those members of our touring teams who wish to embrace some team identity, our managers have come up with an innovative package to supplement the official team kit.
The instructions on the "flyer" below are self-explanatory.
At last count, there were not many left.
That’s all for this week again.
Lots on the go all over the place.
Your SG
Copper
1111
And the joke:
A man and his wife were awakened at 3:00 am by a loud pounding on the door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push.
"Not a chance," says the husband, "it is 3:00 in the morning!" He slams the door and returns to bed.
"Who was that?" asked his wife.
"Just some drunk guy asking for a push," he answers.
"Did you help him?" she asks.
"No, I did not, it is 3:00 in the morning and it is pouring with rain out there!"
"Well, you have a short memory," says his wife. "Can't you remember about three months ago when we broke down, and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself!"
The man does as he is told, gets dressed, and goes out into the pounding rain.
He calls out into the dark, "Hello, are you still there?"
"Yes," comes back the answer.
"Do you still need a push?" calls out the husband (soaking wet).
"Yes, please!" comes the reply from the dark.
"Where are you?" asks the husband.
"Over here on the swing!" replied the drunk. |
