Sandtonites take on Vaal River
SANDTON - The Johannesburg Canoe Club hosted the Vaal River Canoe Marathon over the weekend of 7 and 8 November with two Sandton residents performing exceptionally well.
The first day of the marathon covered 35km while the second day covered a distance of 26km from Wemmer Pan to the Hadeda Creek resort in Parys. Spokesperson for the Gauteng Canoe Union, Jennie Dallas said, “With dry drought conditions and low water levels it was arguably the most difficult marathon for many years as boats got stuck on the large flat shelf rocks on the river, forcing paddlers to continuously get out of their boats and pull the boat over the rocks before continuing.
“After the hard, tough slog on day one, some nearly 20 boats withdrew, either as a result of boat damage or disappointment and exhaustion from the tough conditions, which provided excellent stamina development for those planning to take on the 2016 Dusi, in KwaZulu-Natal where the water levels are also likely to be very low.”
Sandton residents Robert Levick and Grant Pollock who paddle at Emmarentia Dam for the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club, did exceptionally well at this tough endurance race and finished as 12th in the senior age category in a time of 06:21:00.
