The Western Cape Canoe Union team that travelled to Plettenberg Bay to compete in the annual South African Canoe Marathon Championships on 12th and 13th June, 2010, did exceptionally well, raking in a haul of medals across all the age groups competed in but in particular and excitingly, showing very good strength and depth in the Junior ranks.

These championships were supposed to have taken place in Cape Town, but given the World Cup Football extravaganza, it was CanoeSA decided to return to the Keurbooms River, Plettenberg Bay (where these same championships were held in 2009) to help reduce the travelling and accommodation costs those paddlers from Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal. With Plett. being plus/minus central to most paddlers, this practical decision was made by the C.S.A. Exco. and so the 2011 S.A. Canoe Marathon Championships will be held in the Cape at a venue still to be decided.

Whilst there have been previous reports on these championships, this report will rather highlight how paddlers from the W.C.C.U. fared.

Sub Grandmasters SA K1 - L to R, Tim Cornish (KZN), silver; Rob MacLean (WCCU) gold; Rob Welsh (E. Cape) bronze 

In the Junior K1 categories (held on Saturday 12th June), spectators were witness to a good showing of Royal Blue (W.C.C.U. colours) on the water in every event and the W.C.C.U. Juniors, all from Paarl and Milnerton Canoe Clubs, did exceptionally well indeed.

In the Girls Under 10 K1 event, Rebecca Meihuizen (Paarl) won gold, in the Boys U 10 K1, Thomas Pretorius (Paarl) won gold, with Kelvin Swanepoel (Paarl) taking the silver medal.

Junior K1 U10 Girls - L to R - Rebecca Meihuizen WCCU) gold; Caroline van der Linde (Gau) silver 

Justine Williams (Paarl) won gold in the Girls U12 K1, with her team mate, Jermaine Gooiman grabbed the bronze.

The Boys U 14 K1 saw none of youngsters on the podium, however, they took 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th places.

In the Girls U14 K1, Martine Beukes (Paarl) won the gold, with her team mate, Abigail Stubbs taking the bronze.

In the Girls U18 section, a very exciting race saw Melanie van Niekerk and Marisa Pretorius (both Milnerton) win gold and silver respectively whilst in the Boys U18 division, Ivan Kruger (Milnerton) raced neck-and-neck for the entire race against the current Junior World Canoe Marathon Champion, Brandon van der Walt (Gauteng), eventually losing to the champion but only by 6 seconds - a truly remarkable race by this young man. The bronze medal was won by Joseph Williams of Paarl whilst in the Boys U16 K1 event, raced concurrently with the U16 event saw Paarl's Luke Stowman and Michael-Lee Farringer win gold and silver respectively.

Junior U16 K2 boys - L to R - Dugan Alfonso/Emille Theunissen (Gau) silver; Luke Stowman/Daniel Buys (WCCU) gold; Dylan Theron/Jason Aubin (E. Cape) bronze

In the Junior K2 events (only raced in the U16/U18 age groups and on Sunday 13th June), Melanie van Niekerk teamed up with Kerry Segal (KZN) in a race that very excitingly went down to the wire, Melanie and Kerry taking silver just off the pace to KZN's Emma Horner and Jenna Ward. In the Junior Boys K2, W.C.C.U. paddlers featured on the podium in gold, silver and bronze medals, Ivan Kruger having teamed up with Brandon van der Walt for gold, Joseph Williams and Diviano Pieterson taking silver whilst Ruan Knobel teamed up with Vaughn Warren (Border) to claim the bronze medal.

In the Senior and Masters K1 Classes, also held on Saturday 12th June, whilst not as medal-prolific as their Juniors, the W.C.C.U. paddlers also gave their all.

Milnerton's Bianca Beavitt was held off by Beijing canoeing Olympian (E. Cape) and Plett. based paddler, Michelle Eray, to claim silver, whilst in the U23 event (held concurrently with the Senior Men's K1), gold, silver and bronze went to W.C.C.U. paddlers in the form of Milnerton's Lance King, Maties Pierre-Andre Rabie and UCT's Andrew Birkett respectively. In the senior competition, they placed 4th (King) 5th (Rabie) and 7th (Birkett) overall, which was an excellent showing.

In the Masters categories, Roelof van Riet (Milnerton) won the Grandmasters way-out-front of the rest of his class, although Paarl's Giel van Deventer took the bronze to make it two Cape paddlers on the podium whilst Rob MacLean (Peninsula) decimated his Sub Grandmaster opposition to win gold by over 4 minutes from KZN's Tim Cornish and East Cape's Rob Welsh. Paarl's Andre' Rabie was 4th in their category.

In the Senior and Masters K2 events held on Sunday 13th June, Western Cape paddlers also put in good showing, especially in the Senior and U23 categories. In the Men's K2, a ding-dong battle between KZN's Grant van der Walt and Hank McGregor ensued between Ant Stott (KZN) and his partner, Peninsula Canoe Club's Graeme Solomon, which saw them slog it out for all of the 7 laps (30 km) stroke for stroke and step by step on each portage for the van der Walt/McGregor combination finally take the gold with Stott/Solomon just falling off their slip over the final 50m of the race. Earlier on in this same event, W.C.C.U's U23 paddlers, Lance King (Milnerton) and Sean Rice (Peninsula) matched the two top crews only to fall off the pace in the 4th lap when King strained his Achilles and so ended up limping every portage from then on, allowing the leading K2's to get well away and for other crews to catch and pass them - notably Gauteng's Jacques Theron (a former Matie paddler!) and Piers Cruikshank who had capsized some 200 m from the start of the race and who fought back to claim the bronze medal. An excellent example of the never-say-die attitude that is imperative in any canoe marathoner's make-up. W.C.C.U.'s

Ernest van Riet (Maties) and Heinrich Schloms (Paarl) were 4th, Lance King/Sean Rice 5th whilst Pierre-Andre Rabie/James Birkett were 6th overall. In the U23 K2 event, King/Rice won the gold and Rabie/Birkett the silver.

In the Senior Women's event, Milnerton's Lindi-May Harmse, back from National K4 duty in Europe, re-newed her 2009 partnership with KZN's Abbey Adie to comprehensively win their event.

In the Masters categories, Paarl's Giel van Deventer teamed up with Border's Clyde Mountford to win gold in the Grandmasters race, while Rob MacLean/Andre Rabie (Pen/Paarl) totally dominated the Sub Grandmasters race, ending up fighting it out with a younger, Master's crew from the Eastern Cape, to win gold and to get some racing competition.

Results (featuring W.C.C.U. paddlers with podium places):

K1 Events Senior Women

1 Michelle Eray (E. Cape)

2.Bianca Beavitt (Milnerton)

U23 Men

1. Lance King (Milnerton)

2. Pierre Andre Rabie (Maties)

3. Andrew Birkett (UCT)

U23 K2 - Pierre-Andre Rabie/James Birkett (WCCU), silver; absent Lance King/Sean Rice (WCCU) gold. 

Girls U10

1. Rebecca Meihuizen (Paarl)

Boys U10

1. Thomas Pretorius (Paarl)

2. Kelvin Swanepoel (Paarl)

Girls U12

1. Justine Williams (Paarl)

2. Bianca van Zyl (Gau)

3. Jermaine Gooiman (Paarl)

Girls U14

1. Martine Beukes (Paarl)

2. Jordan Taylor (KZN)

3. Abigail Stubbs (Paarl)

Girls U18

1. Melanie van Niekerk (Milnerton)

2. Marisa Pretorius (Milnerton)

3. Brittany Petersen (KZN)

Boys U16

1. Luke Stowman (Paarl)

2. Michael-Lee Farringer (Paarl)

3. Sifiso Cebekhulu (Gau)

Boys U18

1. Brandon van der Walt (Gau)

2. Ivan Kruger (Milnerton)

3. Joseph Williams (Paarl)

Sub Grandmasters

1. Rob MacLean (Peninsula)

2. Tim Cornish (KZN)

3. Rob Welsh (E. Cape).

Sub Grandmasters K2 - L to R - Steve Jourdan, (SA Canoe Marathon Team Manager, 2010), absent Allan Hold/Geoff Thompson (KZN) silver; Andre' Rabie/Rob MacLean (WCCU), gold; Tim Cornish (KZN) absent Werner Holzhausen (KZN), bronze

Grandmasters

1. Roelof van Riet (Milnerton)

2. Clyde Mountford (Border)

3. Giel van Deventer (Paarl).

K2 Events.

Senior Men

1. Grant van der Walt/Hank McGregor (KZN/KZN)

2. Ant Stott/Graeme Solomon (KZN/Pen)

3. Jacques Theron/Piers Cruickshank (Gau/Gau)

Senior Men - K2 Championships,  L - R, Graeme Solomon (WCCU)/Ant Stott KZN) silver; Hank McGregor/Grant v.d. Walt (KZN), gold; Piers Cruikshank/Jacques Theron (Gau), bronze 

Senior Women

1. Lindi-May Harmse/Abbey Adie (Mil/KZN)

2. Suzette Maree/Hanri Maree (Gau/Gau)

Juniors.

Girls U18

1. Emma Horner/Jenna Ward (KZN/KZN)

2. Melanie van Niekerk/Kerry Segal (Mil/KZN)

3. Jenna Starr/Brittany Petersen (KZN/KZN)

Boys U18

1. Brandon van der Walt/Ivan Kruger (Gau/Mil)

2. Joseph Williams/Diviano Pieterson (Paarl/Paarl)

3. Ruan Knobel/Vaughn Warren (WHR/Bor)

U18 boys K2 - Joseph Williams/Diviano Pietersen (WCCU) silver; Brendan v.d. Walt (Gau) absent Ivan Kruger (WCCU) gold; Ruan Knobel (WCCU) absent Vaughn Warren (Bor), bronze. 

Juniors

Masters.

Sub Grandmasters

1. Rob MacLean/Andre Rabie (Pen/Paarl)

2. Allan Hold/Geoff Thompson (KZN/KZN)

3. Andreas van Tonder/Danie van Wyk (Gau/E.Cape).

Grandmasters

1. Giel van Deventer/Clyde Mountford (Paarl/Bor).

Grandmasters K2 - Steve Jourdan congratulating Giel van Deventer (WCCU), absent, Clyde Mountbank (Bor), gold.