With an official hashtag of #TheUltimateCanoeRace, this week’s 240 km Berg River Canoe Marathon will again be the ultimate test of canoeing ability, set to reclaim its place as one of South Africa’s, and the world’s, major paddling events.
This year the four-day race through the beautiful Western Cape farmlands from Paarl to Velddrif will take place from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 5 July.
Participants can look forward to a serious challenge, being tested from start to finish, and entrants know that simply finishing the four-day epic calls on a full range of canoeing skills and mental determination.
Best of the best
The list of winners from the previous 62 Berg River Canoe Marathons reads like a who’s who of elite South African canoeing: World Champions Hank McGregor, Andy Birkett and Adrián Boros are mixed with South Africans who have dominated locally and internationally.
The undisputed King of the Berg is surely McGregor, with 13 wins. The 47-year-old, this year, will again make a bid for the title he first won in 2000 as a 22-year-old and last won in 2023, when he became the race’s oldest winner. The Queens of the Berg are Marinda Hartzenberg and Jean Cole, with seven wins apiece.
This year’s race will see 10 former champions on the starting line with a combined total of 32 race wins. McGregor and last year’s runner-up, Robbie Herreveld, lead the way with 13 and six wins respectively, while the top paddlers among the women are Bianca Beavitt and Jenna Nisbet (Ward), with three and two titles respectively.
Challenging routes
Paddlers also tell of not finishing the four-day odyssey owing to long distances, tricky swirling river conditions, ice-cold weather, howling headwinds, dangerous tree blocks and treacherous weirs. So it’s not too difficult to understand why the finisher’s medal is so highly coveted.
It also means Jannie Malherbe, with an incredible 51 race finishes (including three race wins), is regarded as something of a legend in canoeing lore.
Leading the way among women finishers is Lisa Scott, who this year aims for her 15th Berg medal.
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