Montemor-o-Velho (Portugal) – Seven of South Africa’s potential future Olympians face a tough test this week when they come up against the best paddlers from 65 other countries at the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal.
The event is a five-day showcase of the future of sprint canoeing, with 974 junior and U23 paddlers hoping to make a name for themselves in the Olympic discipline of the sport.
The South African team of five juniors and two U23s will have to rise to new levels if they are to muscle their way onto the podium, but the recent heroics of World Cup medallist Hamish Lovemore has shown the youngsters that medals at top-level international regattas are not necessarily a pipe dream.
The first South African athlete out the starting gates at the championships will be junior Jimmy Papadopoulos in the 200m heats on Wednesday morning (July 23). His opening event will be quickly followed by Jordan Klopper in the U23 200m heats before junior Kayla Szalay then faces a tough afternoon with both her 1 000m and 500m heats. U23 Alexa Godden and junior Cody Stallard wrap up the opening day’s action for South Africa in their 500m and 1 000m heats respectively.
Thursday morning’s action is focussed around semi-finals with most of the South African paddlers from Day 1 expecting to see action once again. In the afternoon, Godden (200m heats), Stallard (500m heats) and Klopper (500m heats) will all race again, before Matthew Wilson and Sbulelo Ngobese team up for the 500m K2 event.
Saturday and Sunday’s action for the South African team will be reliant on the paddlers reaching semi-finals and finals, until juniors Szalay and Stallard, and U23s Godden and Klopper team up for their respective 5 000m mixed relays late on Sunday afternoon.
SA TEAM
Junior Women: Kayla Szalay
Junior Men: Cody Stallard, Jimmy Papadopoulos, Matthew Wilson, Sbulelo Ngobese
U23 Women: Alexa Godden
U23 Men: Jordan Klopper
