Oresome year on the water

South Africa's Bridgitte Hartley celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the women's kayak single 500m during the London 2012 Olympic Games, at Eton Dorney Rowing Centre in Eton, west of London, on August 9, 2012. AFP PHOTO / POOL / ARMANDO FRANCA

South Africa's Bridgitte Hartley celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the women's kayak single 500m during the London 2012 Olympic Games, at Eton Dorney Rowing Centre in Eton, west of London, on August 9, 2012. AFP PHOTO / POOL / ARMANDO FRANCA

Published Dec 21, 2014

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Johannesburg – The year 2014 will go down as an annus mirabilis – a year of miracles – for South African rowing as national coach Roger Barrow and his dedicated charges reached unprecedented heights.

With few resources to draw upon, Barrow led his paddlers to a maiden world title which went to men’s lightweight sculls duo John Smith and James Thompson.

The pair, who formed part of the London 2012 gold medal-winning lightweight fours, were crowned world champs after setting a world-best time of 6:05.36 in Amsterdam in August.

Their victory came only months after making the transition from sweep-oar rowing to sculling and two years after tasting Olympic success.

Adding to the team’s accomplishments at the World Rowing Championships in the Netherlands, Shaun Keeling and Vincent Breet claimed a bronze medal in their extremely competitive men’s pair boat class.

It could have easily been more – with four South African Olympic-class boats making it through to the finals at the global showpiece.

The women’s lightweight doubles sculls crew of Kirsten McCann and Ursula Grobler were the surprise package of the championship, coming close to a podium spot, finally finishing in fourth place.

The women’s pair of Lee-Ann Persse and Naydene Smith finished sixth in their final, while the men’s coxed pair of Lawrence Brittain and David Hunt, with Willie Morgan as coxswain, were fifth.

South Africa’s performances at the championships were the result of careful planning by Barrow.

Constantly looking to give his paddlers an edge despite his limited resources, Barrow held two high-altitude training camps with his elite squad ahead of the event.

It paid rich dividends as the crews produced the best results for the country yet.

These successes came on the back of injuries which had denied the team continuity and depth and resulted in Olympic gold medallist Sizwe Ndlovu missing the world champs.

Ndlovu, however, added another accolade to the South African rowing community by being named as a representative for lightweight male rowers serving on the Athletes’ Commission of the World Rowing Federation.

While Barrow’s achievements went unnoticed in South Africa, the World Rowing Federation (WRF) nominated him as a finalist for the 2014 World Rowing Coach-of-the-Year award, losing out to Denmark’s Bent Fransson.

Meanwhile, South African canoeing also experienced a stellar year on the water with Olympic bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley and stalwart Hank McGregor flying the flag.

Hartley made history in August when she won South Africa’s first medal in an Olympic event at the Canoe World Sprint Championships in Moscow.

She repeated her performance at the London Olympics by winning the bronze medal in the K1 500m, finishing third at the world championships.

McGregor cemented his status as a legend of South African canoe marathons, claiming his fourth K1 gold medal at the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships.

The following day, the 36-year-old teamed up with Jasper Mocke to clinch the K2 gold medal and become the first South African to win double gold at a world championship event.

Durbanite Jenna Ward staged a late charge in the women’s under-23 race to earn a bronze medal.

On the local front, McGregor narrowly edged out Andy Birkett to win the Fish River Canoe Marathon while Abby Adie took the women’s title.

Birkett won his fourth Dusi canoe marathon trophy, paired with Sbonela Zondi, in the K2 race this year. They held the lead from day one of the three-day event, chased closely all the way by McGregor and Mocke who finished 10 minutes behind them.

With the race alternating between K1 and K2 each year, there were no surprises in the women’s event as Robyn Kime lifted her fifth consecutive Dusi trophy. She successfully partnered with Abbey Ulansky for a second time while it was Ulansky’s (nee Miedema) record ninth women’s Dusi title. – Sapa

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