As Hank McGregor built an almost unassailable lead on Day 2 of the Berg River Canoe Marathon on Thursday, Jenna Nisbet was capitalising on a “lucky mistake” to take control of the women’s race.
Thirteen-time winner Hank McGregor added to his already big overnight lead on the shortened 30km stage from Gouda to Bridgetown, and now enjoys a daunting advantage of just under 10 minutes over young U23 Sam Butcher.
Robert Herreveld and Siseko Ntondini are nine and 35 seconds further back, respectively, with Friday’s long 76km queen stage to Zoutkloof looming.
The race for the top five was switched around with 2024 winner Thomas Lovemore catching and passing Anders Hart to take over fifth, while Paul Marais is not too far off the pace in sixth.
Safety concerns
Stage 2 was shortened due to safety concerns and fears that the loss of the tricky 16km stretch from Zonquasdrift to Gouda would nullify the racing, were proved wrong.
This was particularly true in the women’s race, where Jenna Nisbet made what she initially thought was a disastrous error, that could turn out to be an unexpected race-winning mistake.
After starting a handful of seconds behind overnight leader Nix Birkett, the pair settled into a group with some male paddlers and all was calm initially.
“We started in a nice group of five, but at the first rapid, which was about five kilometres into the race, I spun out and someone went over me,” said Nisbet, a two-time race winner in 2013 and 2022.
“I thought it was the end of the race when I lost contact with Nikki and the other part of the group.
“Thankfully I was with a guy named John (de Villiers), who knows the river very well … and it actually worked in our favour that we both lost contact with the group, because he had some unbelievable knowledge of the river and took us down some channels which definitely paid off.
“I never saw Nix again until the end. I think she must have got a bit lost or stuck in a tree or something and I passed her without seeing her.
“I was happy to have had a clean day and to have been able to follow John down some good lines and conserve energy as much as possible, because tomorrow is a big day. Even though I have a nice lead over Nix, that can disappear very quickly over 76km tomorrow.
“Tomorrow (Friday) I am definitely just going to do my best to hang on to her, but she is super strong on the flats and I know she’s gonna be going hard tomorrow – so it’s going be a very tough day, I think.”
Nisbet is now eight minutes ahead of Birkett, with Neriyah Dill third, three minutes further back. Bianca Beavitt and Rachel van Deventer complete the top five.
Race decider
Meanwhile, good news for those watching the progress of “Oom” Jannie Malherbe were happy to see him finish Day 2, and the three-time race winner is still on his way to becoming the only person to complete a remarkable 52 Berg River Canoe Marathons.
All paddlers start together on Friday with the 76km paddle to Zoutkloof, the traditional race decider – although this year the short 30km blast seems to have sorted the top step of the podium in both the women’s and men’s races.
LEADING RESULTS
Under overall position, name, overall time, day 1, day 2
Men
1. Hank McGregor 6:18:59 (4:14:44, 2:04:14)
2. Sam Butcher 6:28:22 (4:20:26, 2:07:55)
3. Robert Herreveld 6:28:31 (4:20:25, 2:08:05)
4. Siseko Ntondini 6:28:58 (4:20:27, 2:08:31)
5. Thomas Lovemore 6:34:11 (4:25:08, 2:09:02)
6. Anders Hart 6:35:07 (4:22:13, 2:12:54)
7. Paul Marais 6:35:55 (4:25:09, 2:10:45)
8. Matthew Coetzer 6:37:48 (4:29:42, 2:08:06)
9. Dyllan Farrell 6:37:49 (4:29:42, 2:08:06)
10. Heinrich Schloms 6:38:31 (4:27:48, 2:10:42)
Women
1. Jenna Nisbet 6:57:27 (4:40:02, 2:17:24)
2. Nix Birkett 7:05:18 (4:39:54, 2:25:23)
3. Neriyah Dill 7:09:27 (4:46:15, 2:23:12)
4. Bianca Beavitt 7:31:14 (5:01:36, 2:29:38)
5. Rachel van Deventer 7:36:34 (5:06:55, 2:29:39)
Have you ever completed one of South Africa’s canoe races?
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