Velddrif, Western Cape – Hank McGregor entrenched his status as the undisputed champion of the Berg River Canoe Marathon by wrapping up a tactically brilliant overall victory, while Bianca Beavitt defended her women’s title with a gusty display when the race ended here on the West Coast yesterday.
Holding a 7-minute advantage going into the final stage, McGregor knew it would take a monumental mistake to derail his pursuit of an 11th Berg title.
The Euro Steel/Kayak Centre ace put in another calculated performance and took a clean sweep of stage wins and an 11th win in thirteen starts.
“I’m not really one for stats and every race that I win has got a special place in my heart, especially with it being my son’s second birthday (yesterday),” McGregor said.
“I am really happy with the four days, I won all four stages and all of the bridge prizes, which is great.
“It’s not every day that you race against guys that you raced against in separate World Championships where they both came second behind me, and this year’s race was definitely a prestigious one with a couple of world champions and a couple of world champs medallists on the start line.”
Despite rarely being on his own throughout the race, McGregor managed to slowly carve out a lead from the time trial to the finish and without putting a foot wrong he rewrote the record books once again.
“Someone said that it was my 33rd stage win today, which is great for the stats book, but having my family here to enjoy it with me was far more important. Having my wife and my son here along with my mum and dad was great!”
McGregor was joined on the podium by Simon van Gysen, who produced a solid all-round performance to take the silver medal despite saying he felt he was not fit enough before the race.
The strong international contingent fared well in the low river conditions and all finished in the top 10, Hungarian World Marathon K2 champion Adrian Boros the best placed in third, with Czech star Petr Mojžíšek sixth and Australians Brendan Rice and Josh Kippin seventh and eighth.
“I really enjoyed the four days although I battled in the first two days due to my size and not knowing the river well,” Mojžíšek commented.
“I am a big guy so I battled through the trees and all the corners look the same! The last two days were so much better for me because I am a flat water paddler so I felt more comfortable on the river.
“The race is fantastic and I hope that I can come back and do it again,” the former Marathon silver medallist said with a smile.
The women’ss race was an entertaining affair despite Century City/Pink Lady’s dominance of the overall title, as Nikki Russell put in a concerted effort to shake the defending champion’s lead.
Beavitt was equal to Russell’s attack yesterday as she took a third stage victory and with that the overall half-an-hour victory.
“I was feeling strong before the start yesterday but when I got onto the dam it hit me and I didn’t feel well at all, so today I said to myself that I must take it as it comes and just get to the finish,” said the winner.
“Yesterday was a disappointing day for me because when I got to the finish I felt like I had so much more in the bag but I couldn’t give it my all.
“This year’s race was easier, I think. We had far more tree blocks last year and the race was more technical, but the major downside this year was finishing into the current here as the tide was coming in.”
The women’s podium was completed by Under-23 star Jenna Ward, who was her consistent and dogged self throughout and despite not registering a stage win, managed to consolidate her place on the podium.
The Under-23 titles went to Ward and Thomas Lovemore, who produced a consistent four days of racing that saw him finish 13th overall ahead of Tyron Maher, who ended 14th, and Anders Hart.
The junior race was an exciting one as Hamish Lovemore came out on top despite Emanuel Zaloumis’ best efforts and the impressive Kyeta Purchase, who was the only junior girl in the race, finished in 42nd position overall.
– The Sunday Independent