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At 10 am on Saturday 19 June 2010, the charismatic Peninsula Canoe Club Chairman, Mark Torrington, blew his vuvuzela to signal the start of the 4^th running of the Swartland K1 (a 2-day, 86 km) Canoe Marathon, under perfect racing conditions: a medium high Berg River, brilliant sunshine, blue skies and no wind.

Ian Trautmann, Henri vd Merwe, Edgar Boehm(jnr), Rob Hart.

Klei rapid ( 5 km into the race) proved to be a mix of adrenaline and swimmers, with some 40% of the field ending up giving the interior of their boats a good rinse and giving spectators a good idea of what a swimming gala on the Berg River would look like! Solomon’s efforts of racing hard from the back of the field paid off as he caught up with Rabie and Peninsula Canoe Club’s very promising Alasdair Glass before the ‘forest’ after Grensplaas. Drama unfolded when the trio approached a tree-block with Solomon leading only to get stuck, showing Rabie and Glass that a better tactic was to do a quick portage, taking them past a ‘high ‘n dry’ Solomon. 

Rabie dropped shortly after this block Glass, who was later again caught by Solomon, who continued to the chase to close on the 1 minute and 10 second gap Rabie had opened up.

Pierre-André Rabie (pic by by : John Hishin - Cape Town Sport Photography)

After Roostuin, Solomon, having dropped Glass in the hard grind, caught Rabie and these two raced together until a tree-block about 6km before Zonqwasdrift saw Solomon failing in his attempt to seal launch off the block – ending in a swim, giving a clean run home for Rabie to win Day 1 some 2 minutes clear of Solomon, the 2^nd placed finisher.

In the Senior Women’s event, Peninsula’s Jemma Hofmeyer was first home but not, in her words, after a “good day at the office!”  3 swims, at least one of which was due to a lack of concentration, plus a ‘lam’ feeling, didn’t make for a happy day of paddling, but it was enough to see her home well ahead of 2^nd placed Robyn Henderson (Milnerton) and Maties Kirsten Penderis in 3^rd.

Day 2 of the 2010 Swartland Canoe Marathon began in the mist – very typical of Berg River cane race starts! - at Zonquasdrift. The leading bunch of Rabie, Solomon, Glass, Peninsula’s Edgar Boehm (jnr), Milnerton’s Chris de Waal and Greg van Heerden formed the lead bunch, but it was not long before Rabie and Solomon showed their class and paddled away from them, although it must be said that Glass struggled in the tree blocks encountered in the first 40 minutes of paddling.

Rabie and Solomon continued to swop the lead between themselves, barring a mishap for both in Black Rock Rapid when Solomon, leading into the chute, got stuck, thus holding up Rabie whilst he, Solomon,  got away. This meant that Rabie had to give his all to reel in the talented Sub Vet. who was now leading the field. Together, these two played cat and mouse until just after Ysterpen rapid when Solomon miscalculated his route through a tree block whilst Rabie didn’t, allowing the Matie to race clear and steam home to Bridgetown 6 minutes clear of 2^nd placed Solomon, to win the 2010 Swartland K1 Canoe Marathon by a combined time (Day 1 and Day 2) of some 8 minutes – a staggering achievement against a paddler such as Solomon – and making Rabie the only paddler in this race to come in under the 6 hour mark.

With Rabie having won the previous W.C.C.U. race in June, the Goree to Viljoendrift 26 km on the Breede River, the young Matie has certainly made his mark this season and is now well placed to challenge King at the top of the W.C.C.U paddling ‘tree’.

Hat’s off to Solomon though, as the Sub Vet, who has been the leading paddler in the Western Cape over the past 10 years, is still way ahead of his age-group and continues to challenge the ‘young bucks’ now coming through the ranks on their charge to usurp his dominance.

3rd home of the senior men was Peninsula’s Edgar Boehm (jnr).

In the Senior Women’s event, Jemma Hofmeyer this time had a ‘good day’ of paddling after a brilliant start and with no hiccups, came home clear winner from Robyn Henderson by 17 minutes. 3rd overall was Kirsten Penderis.

Note must be made of the 1^st 3 Junior paddlers home – Joseph Williams (U18) and 13^th overall, Michael-Lee Farringer (U16) and 17^th overall, and Luke Stowman (U16) and 21^st overall. All three of these juniors are from the Paarl Canoe Club and are testament to the excellent coaching and encouragement that the Paarl Club, under Chairman Herbert Conradie and Coach, Wayne August, are giving their junior paddlers.

If there was one disappointment in the 2010 Swartland Canoe Marathon, it was the lack of up-country paddlers attending. However, given that the S.A. Canoe Marathon Championships had been held in Plettenberg Bay the weekend before and with travel and accommodation under pressure because of the 2010 World Cup Soccer, this is probably not surprising. Nevertheless, some 100 paddlers took part in this new, but growing K1 canoe marathon and with the news that it will in all likelihood be the venue for the 2011 S.A. K1 canoe river championships, this event will mature into the position that it deserves to be on the S.A. canoeing calendar – a premier K1 canoe race in the Western Cape and an impressive and challenging ‘baby brother’ to the mighty Berg River Marathon that is held on the same river in July each year..

Thanks to the sweeps above....