Hi ,

No time zones crossed, so no jet lag, but an inability to sleep on a plane certainly sends one south for a few days.

After 2 weeks of staying in a hotel, it is also extremely irritating that there is no buffet laid out at home and I have had to resort to making my own porridge in the mornings and cooking for my offspring in the evenings. The morning and afternoon school runs are an additional cross to bear. Welcome back to reality.

What a remarkable tour.

The first ever, "2 for the price of one", experience for many of our paddlers.

Over the 2 weeks of racing there were so many exceptional performances and "tales within races" that it would take a lengthy epistle to reflect all of them. At the risk of being ostracised by failing to mention everyone, I will bang out a precis of what stuck in my mind.

Firstly, the marathon championships.

Portugal is a beautiful country, and the town where they world marathon championships was held (Ponte de Lima), is one of the most historically awesome and fantastically attractive places I have ever visited. Added to this was the fact that the local federation knows how to put on a good show.

The fence sitters who opted to stay at home will be kicking themselves.

Over the years, the standard of international marathon paddling has increased dramatically. A number of "new" nations, such as the Danish and Swedish, have embraced the discipline and made life difficult for the previously dominant countries such as Hungary, Spain and South Africa. The historical expectation of our paddlers winning medals has been tempered. They are now hard fought items.

This makes the results of Team South Africa all the more impressive.

The two "stand out" performances of the event must be the gold medal won by Andy Birkett in the "blue ribbon" men's K1 race and Hamish Lovemore's gold in the U23 men's K1.

Both races were "edge of your seat" stuff, for the entire duration. Frenetic group dynamics with ridicule high speeds and loads of controlled aggression (well, mostly controlled).

Andy leaving it to the last minute to deprive the local legend, Jose Romalho, of his first world marathon gold by outsprinting him within the final 100 metres, with pre-race favourite, Mads Pedersen settling for the bronze. Olympic gold medallist in the 1000m, Fernando Pimenta finished 5th.

The U23 race was a testosterone fest. All of the young bucks trying to assert themselves. The result was an extremely "active" front bunch with very little in the way of settling down. Hamish pulled off the end sprint from the Dane, Phillip Knudsen, with Uli Hart ensuring that SA walked away with two medals.

My next stand out performance, even though it did not result in a medal, was Hank's 4th place in the short course. After being well down at the first turn after the start, Hank showed his maturity of racing by creeping his way through the field and running the legs off his opponents, to pull up to 3rd at the final turn, only to have a medal snatched from him by a charging Spaniard in the form of Ivan Alonso.

In the junior women's K2 race, the tenacious grind back to the leading pair of Hungarian boats by sisters, Saskia and Valmajean Hockly resulted in them being able to capitalise on a portaging mishap by the stronger of the Hungarians, to claim a silver medal.

Other results, that under normal circumstances would have the town crier singing from the roof tops, include the following:

A heap of medals (including many golds) that were won by our coffin dodgers in the masters events held during the couple of days before the "main game", including a gold medal by Hank and his wife in the mixed doubles.

Saskia Hockley's  bronze medal in the junior women's K1 event

Christie Mackenzie's hard fought bronze in the women's U23 K1 race. 

Hamish Lovemore's yoyo 6th place in the senior K1, after a couple of heroic fightbacks.

And, Matt Coetzer and Joshua Simpkins', almost there, 4th place in the junior K2.

The event had a fairy-tale ending when the local favourites of Jose Romalho and Fernando Pimenta won the senior K2 race. The venue was packed to capacity and the medal ceremony was a sight to behold.

The profile of our sport was raised when the South African Ambassador to Portugal arrived from Lisbon, in time to witness both Hamish and Andy win their races.

The enjoyment of the event was compounded by the superb live streaming and excellent drone footage which gives one a far more accurate perspective of the group dynamic.

The Monday after the marathon championships, most of the marathon team took the 35km drive down to Esposende for the world ocean racing championships.

The race had a 3 day window period, so that the best conditions could be found. The organisers opted to hold the event on the Thursday, which, in retrospect, turned out to be the best of the days. 

Even though it was the best of the 3 days, the conditions were certainly not your classic downwind one's. Small, choppy runs favouring the stronger and fitter paddlers, but with enough to work with for those who had their act together.

There were 538 paddlers set off in a mass start. The visuals were spectacular.

In a carbon copy of the marathon results, the national anthem was played for both the senior and U23 men's competitors.

Kenny Rice depriving Hank of his first ever world ocean racing championships by overtaking him in the dying moments of the race, and Uli Hart proving too strong for SA team mate Josh Fenn.

Beside the "one/two" in the senior and U23 men's events, there were a number of other podiums where more than one SAFFA was ensconced. Josh Smith and Matt Coetzer with a gold and bronze in the junior men, and Saskia Hockly and Holly Smith in the junior women. 

Stand out performances came thick and fast;

Michelle Burn claiming bronze in the senior women's race, with Nix Birkett 4th and Melanie 7th. Jenna Nisbet not being able to start due to being diagnosed with covid after the marathon champs.

Kira Bester winning silver in the women's U23, with Jade Wilson 5th.
Luke Le Roux, 4th in the junior men.
Daniel Jacobs 5th in the U23 men.

A pile of medals by the masters.

Our national anthem was played so many times (even for 85 year old "Pappa" Chalupsky) that I caught one of the local officials humming along.

The one disappointment of the event, from a spectators perspective, was the lack of any inadequate live streaming and the poor tracking system. Something that will need to be addressed for next year in Australia.

All in all, a fantastic couple of weeks where our paddlers proved that, even without the support of our sports departments, we can still deliver the goods.

The medal ceremony of the ocean race took place at the same time as the Fish river marathon started at home.

Andy Birkett jetted back straight after his victory at the world marathon championships, and continued in his winning ways by claiming yet another SA K1 river title, from a tenacious Clint Cook.

Bridgitte Hartley proved that a couple of swims was not enough to throw away the women's title.

Despite a significantly smaller field than in previous years, reports received indicate that the event was once again superbly organised and enjoyed by all.

News from north of the Vaal river is that the Gauteng annual gem of a race on the Liebenbergsvlei river has had to be cancelled for this year, due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and the reluctance of the local farming community to allow paddlers to drive over their lands. The organisers have promised a bumper event next year.

The best river race of the season, the Lowveld Croc, is to be held on Saturday the 22nd of October.

There are also a number of exciting river races happening in KZN over the next few weeks.

In the ocean, the Pirates "Wall and Back" series starts this evening.

Lots has happened. Lots is still happening. Get involved.

Until next week.

Your SG
Copper
1111

And the joke.

"A woman went to the doctor's office where she was seen by one of the younger doctors. After about four minutes in the examination room, she burst out screaming as she ran down the hall.

An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she told him her story. After listening, he had her sit down and relax in another room.

The older doctor marched down the hallway back to where the young doctor was writing on his clipboard. "What the hell is the matter with you?" the older doctor demanded. "Mrs. Terry is 71 years old, has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?"

The younger doctor continued writing and without looking up said,

 "Does she still have the hiccups?"