Upington – A brotherly partnership will turn into a sibling rivalry in the battle for arguably the most prestigious national canoeing title on the Orange River in the Northern Cape this weekend.
Saturday and Sunday’s Orange Descent canoe race was upgraded to the SA K1 River Championships for 2024 after the Fish River Marathon was cancelled due to foot and mouth disease earlier this year. River marathon racing is comfortably the most popular form of canoeing in South African and as such the K1 (singles kayak) championship normally attracts the most competitive field each year.
Heading the starting list this weekend will be two of the country’s top performers this year: Olympic star Hamish Lovemore and his brother, Berg River Marathon winner Thomas. Last year the pair were comfortable winners of the Orange Descent together in a double canoe, but this weekend they are likely to be fighting each other for the national K1 title.
After his Olympic heroics, where he won the B Final in Paris in August, Hamish must be the favourite to edge out his brother in the two-day race. However, Thomas will be no pushover and proved in the Berg River a few weeks before the Olympics that, although his brother is one of the world’s best over 1 000m, he is able to mix it with the best in long multi-day events.
In the women’s race, Berg winner Stephanie Von Der Heyde looks to be the clear favourite, with her biggest challenge likely to come from 2023 Berg runner up Bianca Beavitt.
The Orange Descent follows an unusual format of the second day being raced upstream of the opening stage. Day 1 has canoeists paddling 26km from Keimoes down to Kakamas. Day 2 sees paddlers starting in Upington and finishing 28km downstream at Kanoneiland – a few kilometres above the Day 1 start.
The relatively dry and arid Northern Cape is not a normal venue associated with water sports, but the Orange Descent can provide paddlers with a constant, guaranteed water level thanks to the water releases critical for farm irrigation, and that means surprisingly good conditions for river racing.
Paddlers at the Orange Descent are treated to unique mix of river conditions. The semi-desert environs and the river’s status as a key source of irrigation for the region means the competitors are tested by a variety of rapids, weirs and even long stretches where paddlers race down fast-flowing irrigation canals. Throw in some wide sections of gently flowing deep water, and the event makes for a great test of both skills and tactical ability.