The 2025 South African K2 Championships being held in conjunction with the Fish River Canoe Marathon looks to have been whittled down to a two-horse race for the men, while it would take a dramatic incident to stop Bridgitte Hartley and Hilary Bruss from claiming the women’s title.
The opening stage from Grassridge to Knutsford on Friday was not without drama, with a couple of big names falling victim to the notorious obstacles that litter the 48km course.
In the men’s race, both the 2023 Fish and SA Champions, Greg Louw and Andy Birkett, are still in contention – even if they are now paddling with different different partners. However, Louw and Matt Fenn will count themselves somewhat lucky to have won the opening stage after they flirted with disaster at Keith’s Flyover Rapid.
Louw – who also survived a scary swim there on his way to victory with Birkett in 2023 – and Fenn were the first into Keith’s, but were spun around as the exited the notorious obstacle. Somehow they managed to stay upright and once they were pointed in the right direction again, were able to continue with Birkett and Hamish Lovemore.
These two crews then combined to build a lead and eventually crossed the line together, setting up what should be a tight battle between them for victory on Saturday.
The second boat into the rapid was 2024 SA K2 Champion Clint Cook and French former World Champions Jeremy Candy. They fell out and were effectively forced out of contention as they emptied their boat before continuing on their way to eventually finish third, just over a minute behind the two leading boats.
Siyanda Gwamanda and Thabani Msia were a distant fourth with Liam Stephenson and Matthew Coetzer rounding out the top five, while Andy Birkett’s namesake, Englishman Andrew Birkett and Irishman David Horkan are sixth.
In the women’s race, Hartley and Bruss are comfortably in control, but they did not enjoy a trouble-free paddle as a somewhat bizarre incident at Double Trouble Weir saw only a single member of the leading boat get into trouble. With a lead that was already comfortable as they arrived at the early obstacle, Hartley fell out of the boat while Bruss was able to stay in and then pick up her partner from the river bank.
That allowed Tayla Isaac and Rachel Van Deventer to catch the leaders, but Hartley and Bruss, once they were both back in the boat together, were always too strong for the opposition and cruised away to a big 13-minute lead. Abby Solms and Ashley Craig caught and passed Isaac and Van Deveneter and lie in second spot, three minutes ahead of the Western Cape pairing.
LEADING RESULTS
MEN
1 Greg Louw / Matthew Fenn 02:45:55
2 Andy Birkett / Hamish Lovemore 02:45:55
3 Clinton Cook / Jeremy Candy 02:46:59
4 Siyanda Gwamanda / Thabani Msia 02:59:47
5 Liam Stephenson / Matthew Coetzer 02:59:36
6 Andrew Birkett / David Horkan 03:03:52
7 Msawenkosi Mtolo / Sandile Mtolo 03:04:48
8 Wayne Jacobs / Siseko Ntondini 03:08:59
9 Matthew Wilson / Scott Venniker 03:09:24
10 Matthew Dean / Andrew Crothers 03:09:33
WOMEN
1 Hilary Bruss / Bridgitte Hartley 03:20:49
2 Abby Solms / Ashley Craig 03:33:14
3 Tayla Isaac / Rachel Van Deventer 03:36:50
4 Jessica Behn / Amy Hulett 03:39:35
5 Keira Hunter / Daisy May Odell 03:44:52