The Maties Canoe Club has the biggest club entry countrywide this year, with at least 16 paddlers committed to starting the 62nd Berg River Marathon in Paarl.
The group, charged mainly by the “Turbo Toppies”, as all 50-plus paddlers at the club are known, will start the gruelling four-day event at the Market Street Bridge in Paarl on Wednesday 3 July, and end four days and 240 km later in Velddrif along the West Coast on on Saturday 6 July.
This contingent includes 76-year-old Johan van Rooyen with 16 Bergs, Gerhard Beukes with 40, Francois Loedolff with 38, and Johan “Mossie” Serdyn with 33 Bergs, respectively. Stellenbosch University students Tayla Isaac and Angus Dick are the only novices in the group tackling the marathon for the first time.
The entire group of paddlers who have committed themselves to this year’s Berg with their number already completed are Hanré Streicher (7), Francois Loedolff (38), Francois Meyer (9), Danie Brink (6), Johan van Rooyen (16), David Malherbe (7), Daantjie Malan (12), Andries JP Smit (26), Gert van Deventer (17), Barry Muller (5), Morné Jumeni (2), Gerhard Beukes (40), Johan (Mossie) Serdyn (33), Conrad Kriel (3), Angus Dick (debut), and Tanya Isaac (debut).
The whole course Berg River Marathon comprises four days divided as follows: day 1 from Paarl to Zonquasdrif (62 km); day 2 from Zonquasdrif to Bridgetown (46 km); day 3 from Bridgetown to Zoutkloof (75 km); and day 4 from Zoutkloof to Velddrif (57 km).
Irish paddler David Horkan, a previous winner of the K1 section of the non-stop 200 km Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race, is touted as one of the favourites to win the race, which includes 10 women paddlers this year.
