The ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Shaoxing in Eastern China will see the global showdown start on Thursday, 17 October 2019.
The world championships begins with the junior K1 races on Thursday, along with the recently introduced and spectator-friendly short races.
In the Under-18 K1 races South Africa will be represented Amy Peckett and Under-16 ace Georgina Howard in the race. Peckett will return for a second crack at the junior K1 race while former K2 specialist and two-time World Championship medal winner Christie Mackenzie takes on the K1 race for the first time.
In the Under-23 K1 races, there will be big expectations as both are previous medal winners and had a ding-dong battle at the national championships at Cradle Moon Lake earlier in the year. Kyeta Purchase and Mackenzie are both former junior K1 bronze medallists and with a few years’ worth of experience under their belts they both could well be in the medal mix come the closing stages of their race.
Hartley Becomes the First South African paddler in Sprint, Marathon and Surfski World Champs in the Same Calendar Year
Sprint queen Bridgitte Hartley made the transition to marathon paddling and has been a consistent performer nationally and will be looking to assert herself on the international stage. She becomes the first South African paddler to represent her country at sprint, marathon and surfski world championships level in the same calendar year.
She will be tackling the senior K1 race this year and will be hoping to improve on her consecutive twelfth position finishes in the last two editions of the marathon world championships.
Jenna Ward will also be in action in the senior K1 race has a strong pedigree in singles racing. She has an Under-23 bronze medal to her name and finished seventh in Portugal last year. Ward and Purchase have also reignited their partnership for the 2019 World Championships. It is a partnership that produced a silver medal in the senior K2 race back in 2016 and with more experience under their belts they will be looking to repeat that, if not improve on it.
Hartley and Mackenzie are the other senior K2 boat and will be equally determined to push for a podium spot. They have paddled river marathons together and won the 2019 SA Marathon Championships ahead of Ward and Purchase, so they have the pedigree to compete.
Peckett and Nosipho Mthembu will be one of the junior K2 crews on show in Shaoxing. The pair beat the under-16 duo of Georgina Howard and Melonie Croeser at the national championships and both pairs will be hoping to put in strong performances this week.
For more information visit www.canoesa.org.za
2019 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships Schedule (SA Time):
Thursday, 17 October:
02:30AM – Junior K1
04:45AM – Senior K1 Short Course: Heat One
05:10AM – Senior K1 Short Course: Heat Two
10:15AM – Senior Short Course: Final
Friday, 18 October:
02:30AM – Junior K2
04:30AM – U23 K1
Saturday, 19 October:
06:30AM – K1
Sunday, 20 October:
05:15AM – K2
Photo 1 Caption: Christie Mackenzie and Bridgitte Hartley (left) and Jenna Ward and Kyeta Purchase (right) will fight it out with the world’s best in the senior women’s race at the 2019 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Shaoxing, China starting on Thursday, 17 October 2019. Photo: Bertie Baard/Gameplan Media
With editing by gsport
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