The South African team can hold their heads high following another successful outing to the ICF Canoe Marathon Masters World Cup in Brandenburg, Germany on Wednesday when they bagged a further six medals to go with the five they scooped on the opening day of the marathon showpiece.
Team South Africa built on their day one medal tally early on the second and final day of competition at the Masters World Cup on Wednesday when they picked up a bronze medal in the Men’s K2 65-69 age category as Willem van Riet and Johan van Rooyen finished third in the race.
The medal rush continued as the team added three more medals to their tally before the competition broke for lunch in Germany. C-paddlers Radoslaw Olszewski and Andrezej Lenartowski finished third in the Men’s 50-54 age class.
They were followed by another bronze via Bruce Wenke and Linton Hope in the Men’s 55-59 age category with the result of the morning coming from Alan Hold and Chris Visser who powered to a gold medal by over four minutes in the 60-64 age group ahead of the German pair in second and the Canadian pair in third.
The only pair to miss out on a medal in the morning session was the Women’s K2 duo of Lis Hart and Lisa Scott who finished just outside the medals in fourth in the 45-49 age group.
The afternoon session was equally fruitful as the team bagged medals in two of the three races that had South African pairs contesting them. The stand out of the afternoon was the 50-54 age category pair of Colin Simpkins and Rob Hart, who bagged a silver medal as Lee McGregor and James Tutton finishes in sixth in the same race.
The second medal of the post-lunch session went to the pair of Charles ‘Zoog’ Haynes and Lance Howarth who finished third in their competitive 40-44 age bracket.
All the focus now shifts to the elite paddlers who get their ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships underway from Friday, 16 September to Sunday, 18 September at the same Brandenburg course.
ICF CANOE MARATHON MASTERS WORLD CUP – Brandenburg, Germany
SUMMARY OF RESULTS – Day Two
K2 Men 65-69
1.Einar Kjerschow/Joergen Skabo (NOR) 01:36.34
2.Sahi Pentti/Simpanen Veijo (FIN) 01:47.27
3.Johan van Rooyen/Willem van Riet (RSA) 01:56.34
K2 Men 60-64
1.Alan Hold/Chris Visser (RSA) 01:33.40
2.Sepp Branbandt/HJ Klapproth (GER) 01:37.43
3.Robert Lang/Neville Maytom (CAN) 01:39.36
K2 Men 55-59
1.Francisco Vazquez/Juan Carlos Lopez Villalobos (ESP) 01:27.35
2.Julio Gonzalez/Javier Melus (ESP) 01:28.11
3.Bruce Wenke/Linton Hope (RSA) 01:28.12
4.Nicolas Oldert/Theo Smit (RSA) 01:28.13
8.James Earl/Nigel Briggs (RSA) 01:35.31
K2 Men 50-54
1.Tomas Zastera/Darren Lee (ICF) 01:48.04
2.Colin Simpkins/Rob Hart (RSA) 01:49.04
3.Anders Andersen/Einar Rasmussen (NOR) 01:50.04
5.James Tutton/Lee McGregor (RSA) 01:54.25
K2 Men 45-49
1.Thomas Kittner/Klaus Gieres (GER) 01:42.52
2.Miguel Gonzalez Carrera/Luis Alberto Portas Diz (ESP) 01:47.12
3.Heincz Sandor/ István Urbán (HUN) 01:47.27
6.Brendon Thompson/Richard Kohler (RSA) 01:52.52
K2 Men 40-44
1.Johan Brekke/Gleb Greben (NOR) 01:42.18
2.Ferenc Csima/Siha Zsolt (HUN) 01:44.49
3.Charles Haynes/Lance Howarth (RSA) 01:44.52
K2 Women 45-49
1.Isabelle Jegoux/Celine Tessier (FRA) 01:38.49
2.Blanca Arroyo Martin/Ana Lena Gonzalez Balmaseda (ESP) 01:38.50
3.Heidi Loncke/Ingrid van Dijck (BEL) 01:42.13
4.Lis Hart/Lisa Scott (RSA) 01:45.18
C2 Men 50-54
1.Fedir Trunov/Oleksander (UKR) 01:44.32
2.Romuald Figielus/ Désiré Dauchez (ICF) 01:45.49
3.Radoslaw Olszewski/Andrezej Lenartowski (RSA) 01:59.08