Van der Walt brothers take on Varsity
College Marine Surfski Series
Durban -
Two current
world champion brothers will take to the water off Ushaka Beach when the
Varsity College Marine Surfski Series gets under way on Friday night.
Grant van der Walt, who won the U23 world marathon championship title in
Crestuma, Portugal last year, is out to defend the overall series title he
won last year, and will be joined on the start line for the series pipe
opener by his younger brother Brandon, who is the current junior marathon
world champion .
Grant van der Walt's prolific success across a number of canoeing disciplines
saw him appointed a Sport For Life ambassador at Varsity College where he is
currently studying, and he has also joined the national elite sprint training
squad.
"The amazing thing about the Varsity College Marine Surfski Series is that it
attracts athletes of all different levels, from the complete novice competing
in their first race to the top surfski paddlers in the world and everyone
interacts with one another," said Van der Walt.
He is also passionate about the lifestyle appeal of the series, and its
Friday evening format. "Towards the end of a hard week of training you tend
to lack a bit of motivation to get into the boat and do another training
session."
"Now it is the complete opposite, you count the seconds to each Friday, rush
down to the beach with the ski and run around like a little child with candy,
just itching to get racing," said Van der Walt.
"The fact that the series is raced on a Friday evening is awesome. It's a
great way unwind from a tough week and bring on the weekend with a bang," he
added.
"This also means that you have the entire weekend free, a big bonus for most
people. It has to be the best schedule in the world - a good end to the week,
yet an even better start to the weekend," he said.
Having cut his teeth on this series last year, Van der Walt openly encourages
novices and newcomers to take part in the races, starting with the shorter
4km option and then graduating to the two-lap 8km races, all held from the
sheltered Ushaka Beach and raced in the protected waters of Durban Bay.
The van der Walt siblings will find the racing tough, as some of the
country's top racers, many of them currently in the world series top ten
rankings, will be on the startline for many of the ten races on the calendar,
including the highly competitive surf iron man Matthew Bouman.
The doubles racing promises to be equally tight, with the veteran crew of
Herman Chalupsky and Andre Pohl starting as the hot favourites to retain the
title they won last year.
The registration for the event takes place at Billy the Bums on Thursday 14
January, and the first race, the Billy the Bums Surfski Challenge, gets under
way from Ushaka Beach at 5:30pm on Friday night.
Varsity College Marine Surf Ski Series 2010
All races take place on Friday evenings at 5:30pm on the following dates:
15 January
29 January
5 February
12 February
19 February
26 February
5 March
12 March
19 March
9 April
ENDS
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Varsity College Marine Surf Ski Series Logo |
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Current U23 world marathon champion Grant van
der Walt in action off Durban, preparing for the defence of his title in the
Varsity College Marine Surf Ski Series. |
Anthony Grote/
Gameplan Media |
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Junior marathon world champion Brandon van der
Walt will join the star-studded for the Billy The Bums Surfski Challenge
that kick starts the Varsity College Marine Surfski Series on Friday night. |
Gameplan Media |
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