Brandon van der Walt gets maiden win
Durban – Youngster Brandon van der Walt took full advantage of a weakened
men’s field as he powered his way to his first victory in the Hansa Surfski
Challenge, race five of the Varsity College Marine Surfski Series, on Friday
evening.
Having moved down from Johannesburg to Durban a couple of years ago the
former world junior marathon champ has shown immense promise in recent months
however Friday evening saw the Team Best 4 Kayak Centre member claim his
maiden senior victory in major ocean event.
“It’s really great to have finally gotten a win. I’ve felt really good for
quite a while but the others have been going so well and I just haven’t been
able to keep up with them all the way,” said van der Walt.
“Obviously a lot of the top guys like Hank (McGregor), Matt (Bouman) and my
brother (Grant van der Walt) didn’t paddle tonight but at the same time a win
is still a win and I’m super chuffed. Hopefully this can now be the start of
some really good things to come,” he added.
With flat conditions and a strong headwind to deal with on the return leg a
good start was always going to be a major factor in determining the final
standings.
“Shaun Austin (Varsity College) got away really well and luckily I managed to
tuck in behind him early on,” said van der Walt. “I was feeling good after
that so I went and luckily I had enough to hold off some of the older guys
like Dirk (van den Berg) and Quinton (Rutherford).”
With The Unlimited Dusi just days away series defending champ Hank McGregor
of Ballito used the race to make some last minute adjustments with his river
partner Len Jenkins and the pair destroyed a powerful doubles field.
Last year’s series runner-up, Umhlanga’s Matt Bouman, aLso opted to take part
in a double and and his partner Kieran Worlock stormed to victory in the
mixed doubles category and fifth in the overall doubles placings.
In the women’s race Amanzimtoti resident and ladies defending champ Michelle
Eder was once again untroubled en route to claiming yet another victory.
Having missed the opening two races of the series eder has now made it three
from three and is well on track to claim yet another Varsity College Marine
Surfski Series title.
“Don’t worry about me, I definitely won’t be switching to a double anytime
soon,” chuckled Eder in response to her male counterparts recent decisions.
“I didn’t get the great start I’ve enjoyed the past two weeks but thankfully
the front singles came through quite quickly so there was still a wave to
ride or else it would have been a very long grind!”
“It’s always great to get another win under the belt especially after not
having the greatest week of training this week,” she added.
Despite a light drizzle impacting on the usual horde of family and friends
that line the beach the Republic short course enjoyed another impressive
turnout.
Duane Taylor came home first ahead of Gordon Spalding with Ryan Roberts,
still yet to finish off the podium in just his first surfski season, claimed
third whilst Jody Taylor and Mitchell Wittstock won the doubles short course
category.
Race six, the Dion Wired Surfski Challenge, takes place at 17h30 on 24
February after the series takes a break this coming Friday due to The
Unlimited Dusi.
More info can be found at
www.marineseries.co.za
SUMMARY OF RESULTS – HANSA SURFSKI CHALLENGE
FIFTH LEG OF THE VARSITY COLLEGE MARINE SURFSKI SERIES
LONG COURSE
SINGLES – MEN
1.Brandon van der Walt 32.12
2.Dirk van den Berg 33.43
3.Quinton Rutherford 33.46
4.Shaun Austin 35.02
5.Mark Ussher 35.07
6.Warren Beuster 35.08
7.Richard Lowe 35.13
8.Mark Lewin 35.26
9.Simon D'Aubrey 35.48
10.Marc Snyman 35.50
SINGLES – WOMEN
1.Michelle Eder 37.38
2.Jenna Ward 41.05
3.Brittany Petersen 42.23
DOUBLES
1.Hank McGregor/Len Jenkins 29.55
2.Mark Mulder/Dave Chaplin 30.11
3.Adam Nisbet/Luke Nisbet 30.19
SHORT COURSE
SINGLES
1.Duane Taylor 21.46
2.Gordon Spalding 21.49
3.Ryan Roberts 21.51
DOUBLES
1.Jody Taylor/Mitchell Wittstock 21.43
2.Steve Kitto/Philip Colepeper 21.48
3.Nic Tingle/Geoff Speiers 22.23
ENDS
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the Hansa Surfski Challenge, race five of the
Varsity College Marine Surfski Series. |
Anthony Grote/
Gameplan Media |
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the Hansa Surfski Challenge, race five of the
Varsity College Marine Surfski Series. |
Anthony Grote/
Gameplan Media |
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the Hansa Surfski Challenge, race five of the
Varsity College Marine Surfski Series. |
Anthony Grote/
Gameplan Media |
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the Hansa Surfski Challenge, race five of the
Varsity College Marine Surfski Series. |
Anthony Grote/
Gameplan Media |
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