Hi {name},

Back to the majestic Umkomaas valley this weekend for the premier big water marathon in the world, the Stihl Umkomaas Canoe Marathon.

The first “Umko” was held in 1966. Forty paddlers started the first race, with none wearing lifejackets or helmets and a number not even wearing splashcovers.

The entry fee of R2 covered logistics, food, and accommodation.

This weekend will be the 59^th running of the classic.

Eighteen or so boats tripped the section from Josephines Bridge to Riverside last Saturday morning, with the majority continuing down to Old Buck Bridge. The river was at a very manageable level.

The following day a small field took part in the Mbanjwa’s Kraal to Josephine’s Bridge race.

With very little rain predicted for the week, it looks like the Umko will be held on a medium to low river, making it a lot less scary for the uninitiated.

Notable inclusions in the starting line up are multiple previous winners Hank McGregor and Wayne Jacobs, together with Matt Fenn and Bradly Boulle.

It is fantastic to see some new names on the start list for Saturday. Hopefully the fear stigma that the race carries will be dispelled for them and they will join the annual regulars.

The Non-Stop Dusi was held last Friday. Three K1’s and nine K2’s left the start at Bishopstowe Hall at daybreak to race the entire Dusi course in a single day.

Local valley heroes Siyanda Gwamanda and Zamokuhle Meyiwa paddled across the finish line at Blue Lagoon 7hrs and 40mins later, just under an hour ahead of second place Lindokuhle Maphumulo in a K1.

There were two withdrawals and the last place, James Tutton, arrived almost exactly four hours after the winners.

Besides the impressive time by the winners, another stunning result was that of the mixed doubles pair of Matt Fenn and the UK’s Rosie Edwards, who finished fourth overall.

Joshua Fenn went from seconding his brother at the non-stop directly to Marine Lifesaving Club where he produced a completely dominant performance to win the final race of the Marine Surfski Series. The women’s race was, once again, won by Saskia Hockly. Josh stayed on for the prizegiving, where he handed over the lucky draw single ski that his dad had sponsored. Gary and his team deserve the heartfelt appreciation of all the competitors, for a magnificent series.

Despite a very cluttered calendar, the main event over the weekend was, however, the SA Canoe Polo Championships.

Below is the report from the PSA Canoe Polo Chairman, Niel Burger:

The Canoe Polo SA Champs, held at the beautiful Century City venue in Cape Town, was a highly successful and professionally run event.

The championship attracted strong participation across all divisions, with particularly impressive junior team involvement, underlining the exciting growth of the sport in South Africa. We welcomed participation from Victoria Lake Canoe Club, who are new on the polo scene, bringing a number of players, including development paddlers who show great promise for the future.

This event also marked the first of three national team selection events for the squads that will travel to the World Championships in Duisberg, Germany, in September later this year. 

Competition was intense throughout, but a huge congratulations go to Western Province for their clean-sweep performance against the other provinces:

In Div 1, WP Men secured first place ahead of Gauteng Men (the six-time defending champions) and WP U21 Men, while in Div 2, WP U21 Women claimed the title, followed by WP Women and WP U18.

The premier event on the country’s sprint calendar is the national championships.

The SA Schools, and SA Sprint Championships are being held at the Roodeplaat Dam on 27-29 March.

Performances at the speedsters showpiece will determine selection for a number of teams that will be representing the country at various international competitions and world championships later in the year.

Although the champs are being held in Pretoria, they are being organised by the Eastern Cape Canoe Union (as per the provincial rotation system).

With the LA Olympic games only a couple of years away, any Olympic hopefuls will need to be well into their preparation by now.

There should be some hectically exciting racing.

We have arranged live streaming of the event through Supersport Schools, so, for those who cannot make it to the course, there will be an opportunity to watch it from the comfort of your sofa. I will notify you of the details closer to the time.

FULL PROGRAMME AND DETAILS HERE

I have been contacted by the organisers of the Orange Descent, that was due to be take place on the 21-22 March.

They have requested a postponement of the event to the 7-8 November.

So, those who were planning on doing the race at the end of this month will need to un-plan and re-plan for November.

A quick reminder that applications for team managers for a number of tours (marathon, sprints, ocean racing) will close this Friday, the 13^th.

The details are available on the website.

Will chat again after Umko.

Your SG
Copper

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