Strand resident Kira Bester and her paddling partner Melanie van Niekerk successfully defended their Breede River Canoe Marathon women’s title at the weekend.
The duo recorded a convincing five-minute win over Candice Starr and Stephanie von der Heyde in Swellendam at the end of the second day (Sunday 8 September) to be crowned champions with an overall time of 4:34:13.
The defending champions were clearly the stronger crew in the race from Robertson to Bonnievale on day one (Saturday 7 September), and enjoyed a solid 66-second advantage over Starr and Von der Heyde at the start of stage two from Bonnievale to Swellendam on Sunday. Bester and Van Niekerk finished the first stage in a time of 2:08:26. “The water level was so nice today and it all went to plan for us,” said Bester on Saturday afternoon. “Our game plan was to stick with the other women until Sliding Weir and then try and make a break from there…and that is pretty much what happened.
“We pulled the group into Sliding Weir and then, in the long two or three kilometres of rapids after that, we broke away and opened up a gap of about 200 m by the time we reached Secunda Weir.”
For Bester and Van Niekerk there was not much racing against their rivals on the second day as they started with a one-minute advantage and increased that lead by another four minutes in the 33 km route to Swellendam. The paddling pair eventually crossed the line in a time of 2:13:05 to claim victory and the prestigious crown.
The men’s race was won by Hank McGregor and Uli Hart in an overall time of 4:08:32, closely followed by second-placed Clinton Cook and Thomas Lovemore (4:08:33).
In a tight race for the mixed doubles title, Joanne Conradie and Jermaine Pietersen held on to beat Bianca Beavitt and Crispin Thompson by just 17 seconds.
