Defending champs in prime position after Hansa Fish Day 1 Cradock – Defending champions Hank McGregor and Grant van der Walt shrugged off jetlag and colds to win Friday’s 48km opening stage of the 32nd edition of the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon setting up a commanding lead of more than four minutes over the nearest rivals while Abby Adie and Anna Adamová claim the early advantage in the women’s encounter. With fellow title hopefuls Andy Birkett and Cam Schoeman forced out of the contest after recently crowned Under 23 Flatwater Marathon World Champ, Birkett, failed to overcome flu he picked up earlier in the week, McGregor – himself fresh off claiming his third Flatwater Marathon World Championships title – and his regular K2 partner, van der Walt, overcame a poor start on a choppy and wind-swept Grassridge Dam to claw their way back through the field to claim day one’s spoils. With a howling early morning wind creating large waves at the 82km race’s starting point, many crews – McGregor and van der Walt included – were caught unawares as they set off across the dam without their splash covers in place. Being horribly exposed to the elements resulted in numerous top pairs take on large volumes of water meters from the start line and having to work twice as hard to not only pump the excess water out but just to stay afloat as well, some boats even having to be rescued by the lifeguards on hand. The fancied international crew of Thomas slovak and Tobias Bong were the biggest casualty on the dam, and fell to last place in the seeded A batch by the time they reached the dam wall portage. With a sizeable buffer over the rest of the field it would appear it is now McGregor and van der Walt’s title to lose, which if they were to avoid would see them claim their fourth consecutive Hansa Fish doubles title and McGregor’s fifth consecutive K2 title at the event as well. Despite McGregor and van der Walt in indomitable form at the front of the race countless battles of great intrigue continued to unfold behind them throughout the day with the stage’s second place finishers Ben Biggs and Alasdair Glass being one of the day’s hugely popular fairytale performances. For Biggs the duo’s remarkable achievement, having been given little chance of even claiming a top ten amidst this year’s quality field by many critics, was the best possible birthday present he could ever have asked for as he celebrated his 23rd birthday. Having used the element of surprise perfectly on day one to overcome some of their bigger named opponents, Biggs and Glass will however go into day two blatantly marked men and will have to put in a performance of similar standards if they are to hold off the challenge of ‘Fisher King’ Jenkins and local powerhouse Louw. Despite having one eye on chasing down Biggs and Glass, forty-five seconds ahead, Jenkins and Louw will have the other closely on another of day one’s fairytale pairings, Brandon van der Walt and Stu MacLaren who astonishingly came back from last off the dam to finish fourth, just … behind third. After a frustrating day of admin Tobias Bong of Germany and Tomáš Slovák of the Czech Republic were the first of the truly remarkable number of international crew home at the end of stage one whilst local lad Ivan Kruger and France’s Valentin Henot claimed seventh, Czech Republic’s Jakub Adam and Lukáš Trefil thirteenth, Australia’s Josh Kippin and Simon Roll fifteenth and Czech Republic’s Richard Hala and Jonatan Sramek eighteenth overnight. With competition for places rife amongst the ladies crews as well it is Adie and Adamová who find themselves in the driving seats going into day two after they opened up a two minute seventeen second lead over second placed Robyn Kime and Bridgitte Hartley who, frustratingly, suffered a pedal mechanical early on in the clash. Adamová, having recently claimed a silver medal in the K1 and bronze in the K2 Marathon World Champs events, put her good form to great use and was happy with the progress she made as the day went on. SUMMARY OF RESULTS - HANSA FISH RIVER CANOE MARATHON STAGE ONE Overall 1. Hank McGregor/Grant Van der Walt 2:46.39 2. Ben Biggs/Alasdair Glass 2:50.48 3. Len Jenkins/Greg Louw 2:51.33 4. Brandon van der Walt/Stuart Maclaren (U23) 2:52.16 5. Tomas Slovak (CZE)/Tobias Bong (GER) 2:52.55 Women 1. Abby Adie/Anna Adamova (CZE) 3:06.11 2. Robyn Kime/Bridgitte Hartley 3:08.28 3. Danica Bartho/Michelle Burn 3:17.26 4. Jenna Ward/Kerry Segal (U23) 3:17.33 5. Hilary Pitchford/Brittany Pietersen 3:18.47 U23 Men 1. Brandon van der Walt/Stuart Maclaren 2:52.16 2. Ivan Kruger/Valentin Henot (FRA) 2:55.12 3. Gavin Shuter/Murray Starr 2:59.25 U23 Women 1. Jenna Ward/Kerry Segal 3:17.33 2. Candice Murray/Anna Notten 3:38.24 3. Jenna Starr/Julia Trodd 3:51.07 Junior Boys 1. Louis Hattingh/Bryan le Roux 3:00.25 2. Travis Wilson/Tyler Wilson 3:00.26 3. Damon Stamp/Mthobisi Cele 3:07.15 Junior Girls 1.Jordan Peek/Cana Peek 3:32.17
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 04:12:48 +0000
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