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Come and enjoy true Northern Cape Hospitality en discover one of South Africa's most majestic rivers the Orange River.

The Orange River Canoe Marathon promises to be everything you dreamt of and much more for paddlers and seconds alike.

Don't miss out save this date, 22-24 March 2012 

Pietermaritzburg – Olympic sprint sensation Shaun Rubenstein is quietly determined to secure another podium finish in The Unlimited Dusi canoe marathon in a carefully constructed campaign with renowned running talent Steve Farrell.

Far away from the Dusi limelight training in the Western Cape the duo has been putting in the hard yards paddling and running with the boat making them dark horse competitors ahead of the start of the three day classic which starts in Pietermaritzburg on 16 February.

“The Dusi is a funny race, you’ve really got to earn the right to win it and it always brings surprise crews so who knows what could happen,” said Rubenstein.

The WCCU will be running the 1st of the seasons Junior Kayak Sprints at Kraalbaai (Langebaan) this coming Saturday, 4 February 2012. Note that it is at Kraalbaai, which is on the opposite side of the Langebaan lagoon, inside the West Coast Nature Reserve near Churchhaven. This is by far the most idyllic spot at which the sprints are held every year and are not to be missed.

• Registration for all the events will start at 09h00 until 09h45.

• Racing will start at 10h00.

• The age groups for the junior sprint events are u/8, u/10, u/12, u/14, u/16 and u/18 (boys and girls separately).

• The sprint events will be held over a 1000m, 500m, 200m and 2000m (guppies) / 3000m (u/14, u/16 and u/18)

The Organizer is Henk Roux, the WCCU Junior Canoe Sprints Co-ordinator - 082 415 5188

The Western Cape Canoe Union crowned a very successful 2011 season when its annual prize giving was held this evening (Friday 27th January, 2012) at a hotel in Cape Town and these where the following WCCU paddlers were honoured:

                 Lisa Scott (MIL)                                            Lance King (MIL)

After having completed the ultimate one day endurance race in 2010, THE IRONMAN, which comprises of  a 3,8km swim followed by a 180km cycle and 42,2km running, to make a total of 286km, Liezel has decided to set this challenge for herself, and will be doing the 6 qualifying races needed to compete in this tough race in February. She has teamed up with The High Performance Manager for Canoeing South Africa, Gregory van Heerden, for this exciting event.  Gregory has a wealth of paddling and coaching experience and is looking forward to returning once again to the race that started him paddling 23 years ago.

Liezel and Gregory have already completed 3 of the qualifying events needed to enter the Unlimited Dusi, by racing and winning the K2(doubles) section of the Western Cape Canoe Unions “Breede Summer Series” earlier in January.  This weekend they will be jetting up to KZN to compete in the Dash n Crash and Campbells to Dusi Bridge races, Liezel’s first glimpse of the legendary Dusi.   Not daunted in any way, and with only 12 weeks from complete novice to the race, Liezel has been putting in long hours of tough training with Gregory in order to properly prepare for the event.  Daily paddles at Milnerton Canoe Club, beach runs, and gym sessions (including hiking up Table Mountain with the boat) are all part of the training programme Gregory has devised to ensure that he and Liezel not only give the other celebrity entrants a serious run for their money, but are also well prepared to take on the big race.  The Unlimited Dusi canoe marathon from Camps Drift, Pietermaritzburg to Blue Lagoon, Durban takes place on 16-18 February 2012.