UPINGTON – Upington in the arid North West Province is the unlikely focal point for South African canoeing this weekend, when the cream of the country’s paddlers compete for SA marathon titles as well as hard-fought places in one of the world’s strongest national teams.
The SA Marathon Championships have in recent years become the most prestigious national championships in the country, and is often a stepping stone to some spectacular international results that in turn have ensured South Africa is regarded as one of the world’s marathon powerhouses.
Led by Hamish Lovemore, a new crop of younger stars are aiming to take over as World Marathon Champions, and the “youngsters” will all be aiming to make their mark from Friday to Sunday on the Orange River at the Waterfront Guest House in Upington.
A full spectrum of events will be held over the three days, with age groups ranging from under 10s through to 75-plus great grand masters. Besides SA Championship medals, the events will also be used to select the SA team to travel to the World Championships in Gyor, Hungary, on September 4-7.
For the first time in many years, 11-time World Marathon Champion Hank McGregor is not on the entry list for the K1 events, while three time World Champ and holder of eight World Championships medals, Andy Birkett, is also not an almost automatic choice for K1 selection – although it does seem likely he and Lovemore will dominate Sunday’s K2 race.
Lovemore, is deservedly the current darling of SA canoeing after his stunning silver medal at the recent World Cup sprint event in Hungary. The 2024 short-course marathon silver medallist is leading the next generation in their quest to keep international medals flowing back to South Africa.
Birkett is still competitive, but will be the first to admit Lovemore, his Olympic K2 partner, is now the paddler to beat locally – and possibly even the most likely to unseat Dane Mads Pedersen, who currently dominates international marathon paddling.
Lovemore’s stiffest challenge this weekend in both the short-course and long-course K1 races on Friday and Saturday respectively, should come from the Western Cape duo of Nic Notten and Uli Hart, Gauteng’s Clint Cook and the Eastern Cape’s Birkett.
While South Africa’s women paddlers have not enjoyed quite the same level as success at the World Marathon Championships, there is plenty to be excited about with U23 Saskia Hockly leading the way with five World Championships medals through junior, U23 and senior age groups since 2021.
Hockly will lock horns with rivals across a spectrum of experience and age this weekend. Fellow U23 Jade Wilson is favourite to stretch Hockly from the younger paddlers, while Jenna Nisbett, Nix Birkett and Bridgitte Hartley – ranging in age from from senior, to sub veteran and veteran respectively – are sure to be challenging for the lead group in the women’s races.
The husband and wife duo of Hank and Pippa McGregor are both only racing the K2 events on Sunday, but with Hart and Hockly as partners, they both are likely to at least be competitive in their respective men’s and women’s doubles races.
McGregor and Hockly are likely to be fighting for the women’s K2 title with Nisbett and Wilson, while Birkett and Lovemore, Cook and Notten, and McGregor and Hart are the crews to beat in the men’s doubles race.
