Prague - South Africa's top slalom canoeists and kayakers will start the World Championships on the Vltava River this week, and, in the process, will establish a number records for this Olympic discipline in South Africa.
The South African slalom team is the biggest ever to be sent to a Slalom World Championships, and features five athletes in the canoe and kayak divisions.
SA K1 champion Cameron McIntosh has opted to shift to the C2 canoe class, where he has formed a potentially useful partnership with Cyprian Ngidi. This class involves the paddlers kneeling in a double canoe, and paddling with single bladed paddles, instead of sitting in a kayak and using double bladed paddles.
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The Ngidi/McIntosh partnership is relatively new, but both bring a wealth of experience to their combination. McIntosh has for the past decade campaigned to try and secure a berth for South Africa in the Olympic Games, and has been the national K1 champion seven times. Ngidi is a product of the pioneering Lembethe club at Nagle Dam in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, and has several years of international C2 experience with clubmate Simon Dube.
The Ngidi/McIntosh partnership is relatively new The duo has completed a rigorous three months training programme in France and Clarens under the guidance of French coach Jerome Perrin, and jetted to Prague to begin their final preparations optimistic of securing a semifinal berth on their world championships debut together.
"Cyprian (Ngidi) is as strong as a bull in the boat of the boat," said McIntosh on the eve of their departure.
The other athlete in the canoe class is SA C1 Champion Sboniso "Master" Cele, another product of the Lembethe Canoe Club. This will be Cele's sixth international event and he has set his sights on a semifinal finish as well. "It's about time I show the Europeans how a Zulu make a boat move!" he said.
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