Maties pair eye Breede title

2008-09-02 14:26

Cape Town - Cape stalwarts Heinrich Schloms and Ernest Van Riet are targeting the Canon Breede River Canoe Marathon title this weekend that will also decide the national K2 river canoeing championship titles for 2008.

The Maties pairing raced onto the podium last year, narrowing losing the silver medal dice to Ant Stott and Mike Arthur. However this year they see a genuine chance to grab the title, as the current entry list reflects that a number of the sports stars are unable to race due to the imminent world marathon champs two weeks after the race.

"We are both ten times stronger than we were last year, so we are excited about our chances this weekend," said Schloms after winning the final Breede warm-up race on the weekend.

He also said that the SA K2 championship status of the Canon Breede made it an even bigger priority for the crew that has been steadily producing results since they got together in 2006. "It would be phenomenal to win the SA K2 title, so we are really going to go for it." After seven Canon Breede marathons Schloms knows that the 75km two-day race is not complicated, and with the heavy rains almost certain to guarantee a very full river, the outcome of the race will not be determined by local knowledge advantages.

"It's a pretty straight forward race," said Schloms. "Day one is relatively simple but on day two it's quite easy to get lost. The fuller the river is, the easier it is. When the river is low it becomes far more technical and a huge advantage to those paddlers that know the river well." "On the weekend we used our knowledge of the channels on the second day to our advantage, but with the huge rains that have fallen since then, those channels will not be there!" added Schloms.

'I think its rubbish'

Schloms has singled out the crew of Hank McGregor and Dawid Mocke as the crew to beat, but has also tipped the duo of Paul Marais and Greg Barnard as possible dark horses to watch.

"I think its rubbish that Graeme (Solomon) and Lance (King) can't compete in the race because the marathon committee is afraid they might injure themselves," said Schloms. "The Breede is a great training exercise for them!" With close on 450 athletes already entered, and scores of late entries being processed, particularly after the heavy rains that have fallen this week assuring the race of excellent water levels, a big field is assured including most of the top marathoners not committed to the world marathon champs in the Czech Republic.

Already confirmed are the entries of Mocke and McGregor, the Van Heerden siblings, Rory Cole and Simon van Gysen, Dane Sanvido and Sean Rice, and Mike Harris and Brandon Collyer.

Defending champion Len Jenkins will not be racing. The five times winner had originally set up a partnership with Mark Mulder, but has been forced to scrap his plans for the defence of the K2 title he won with Cam Schoeman due to work pressures.

The Canon Breede River Canoe Marathon gets under way outside Robertson on Saturday 6 September and ends outside Swellendam on Sunday 7 September.

- SAPA