Melanie van Niekerk (Milnerton CAnoe Club and W.C.C.U.) claims Top Honours at SA Schools Champs

The picturesque Nagle dam- the setting for the past weekends SA Schools Sprint Kayaking championships 

Nagle Dam- In a weekend that boasted perfect racing conditions, all the big names in South African junior sprint kayaking made their way to the picturesque Nagle dam, just outside of Pietermaritzburg, for the 16^th Annual SA Schools Sprint Kayaking Championships.

Following on from their outstanding performances at last weekends SA Sprint Kayaking Championships, talented athletes Blaine Beresford and Melanie van Niekerk stamped their dominance on the Under 18 racing, by comfortably claiming the Victor and Victrix Ludorum titles.

In the K1 racing, Beresford dominated all of the under 18 boy’s events except for the K1 1000m race, where he had to settle for the silver medal after a superb performance by fellow Maritzburg College boy, Dewald Hattingh. The dynamite pairing of Hattingh and Beresford in the K2 events proved too much for the other combinations, and they remained unbeaten throughout the weekend.

Similarly, Melanie van Niekerk only had to settle for one silver amongst her many gold medals this weekend when she and K2 partner Jenna Ward were narrowly beaten by the under 16  pair of Kerry Segal and Jenna Starr in the under 18 girls 1000m K2 event.  

Segal must claim the standout performance of the weekend, boasting not only the under 18 K2 1000m win, but also gold medals in the 3000m, 1000m, 500m, 200m K1 events in her age category, and times in the 1000m and 500m K1 that were faster than those set in the under 18 girls events.

One of South Africa’s rising sprint stars Kerry Segal digs deep. Kelvin Trautman

To add to the stellar performances in the under 16 age category, Brittany Peterson’s four gold medals in the K2 racing with partner Kerry Shuter, as well as her consistent performance’s in the K1 racing, enabled her to claim the under 16 Victrix Ludorum title.  Luke Stowman’s gold medals in the K1 3000m, 1000m and 500m ensured that he walked away as the Victor Ludorum in the same category.

After an intense two weekends of racing, the Junior sprint squad can now look forward to gaining international racing experience as they travel to the Bochum regatta, in Germany in June. If recent performances by these talented youngsters are anything to go by, we can look forward to some exciting results, and hopefully medals, from this tour.

Blaine Beresford, this weekend’s u/18 Victor Ludorum, and a boy to watch ©Kelvin Trautman 

K1 200m

Girl’s u/16

1. Kerry Segal 00:47.45
2. Emma Horner 00:48.48
3. Kerry Shuter 00:49.26

Boy’s u/16

1. Wikus du Plessis 00:42.16
2. Luke Stowman 00:42.76
3. Heinrich Botha 00:42.95

Girl’s u/18

1. Melanie van Niekerk 00:46.95
2. Jenna Ward 00:49.09
3. Marisa Pretorius 00:50.20

Boy’s u/18

1. Blaine Beresford 00:40.61
2. Dewald Hattingh 00:41.16
3. Julian Atkinson 00:41.76

K1 500m

Girl’s u/16

1. Kerry Segal 02:03.01
2. Emma Horner 02:05.45
3. Brittany Peterson 02:05.95

Boy’s u/16

1. Luke Stowman 01:55.89
2. Emile Theunissen 01:56.39
3. Heinrich Botha 01:56.76

Girl’s u/18

1. Melanie van Niekerk 02:06.20
2. Marisa Pretorius 02:11.06
3. Jenna Starr 02:12.22

Boy’s u/18

1. Blaine Beresford 01:49.82
2. Dewald Hattingh 01:52.26
3. Joseph Williams 01:53.20

K1 1000m

Girl’s u/16

1. Kerry Segal 04:19.99
2. Brittany Peterson 04:23.70
3. Emma Horner 04:31.15

Boy’s u/16

1. Luke Stowman 04:06.61
2. Donovan Wewege 04:07.96
3. Emile Theunissen 04:10.08

Girl’s u/18

1. Melanie van Niekerk 04:28.41
2. Marisa Pretorius 04:34.39
3. Jenna Starr 04:37.41

Boy’s u/18

1. Dewald Hattingh 03:48.45
2. Blaine Beresford 03:53.95