Olympic bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley entrenched her status as the continent’s premier paddler by mastering the icy Highveld weather and a competitive field to claim the 2014 SA Marathon K1 title, at the Homestead Dam on Sunday, 8 June.
Hartley powered her way to the win on the back of a solid Sprint World Cup campaign in Europe, dominating proceedings with a mammoth four-minute gap between her and second-placed finisher, Nikki Russell.
Jenna Ward won the girls under-23 category from Brittany Petersen, while Julia Trodd cleaned up the girls U18 race, racing away from the chasing bunch to win by two minutes over Bronwyn Martin from Australia.
Trodd got her gold medal in the K2 event when she won the under-18 girls title with Donna Hutton.
The 2014 edition of the SA Marathon Champs was one of the largest in the history of the event with hundreds of paddlers braving the single digit degrees to show their worth against the best paddlers in the country with dreams of being on the plane to Oklahoma in September.
The huge field of a total 441 entries included a large field of veteran and masters age group paddlers, contesting the places in the national team that precedes the marathon world championships every year.
The event, held at Homestead dam and superbly hosted East Rank Kayak Club and the Gauteng Canoe Union, underscored the strength and interest in the discipline of flatwater marathon racing, given the consistent success enjoyed by South African paddlers internationally over the past decade.
Leading Results at the South African Canoe Marathon Championships, hosted at the Homestead Dam by the East Rank Kayak Club and the Gauteng Canoe Union, on Sunday, 8 June, 2014: Senior Women‘s K1: 1. Bridgitte Hartley (KZN) 2:11.44 2. Nikki Russell (KZN) 2:15.25 3. Hayley Arthur (KZN) 2:21.16 Women Under-23: 1. Jenna Ward (KZN) 1:56.14 2. Brittany Petersen (KZN) 2:01.21 Girls Under-18: 1. Julia Trodd (KZN) 1:41.42 2. Bronwyn Martin (AUS) 1:43.52 3. Martine Beukes (WP) 1:45.20 Senior Women’s K2: 1. Abby Adie/Laura O’Donoghue 2:10.44 2. Hayley Arthur/Jenna Ward 2:10.45 3. Melanie van Niekerk/Brittany Petersen 2:13.59 Girls Under-18: 1. Julia Trodd/Donna Hutton 1:37.16 2. Bronwyn Martin/Matilda Stevenson 1:37.20 3. Sabina Lawrie/Kyeta Purchase 1:40.07
Click here to visit the Canoe SA website for more information
Photo 1 caption: South Africa’s Olympic bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley produced a dominant display in the women’s K1 race at the South African Marathon Championships as she won the title and made the South African team that will be going to the World Marathon Championships in Oklahoma City in September. Photo: Terence Vrugtman/Gameplan Media
Photo 2 caption: The women’s K2 race was close as the lead changed hands on a number of occasions with Abby Adie (Right) and partner Laura O’Donoghue sneaking the win by the narrowest of margins from the pair of Jenna Ward (left) and Hayley Arthur. Photo: Terence Vrugtman/Gameplan Media
(With editing by gsport)
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