SA paddlers conquer epic Spanish race

SOUTH African paddling stars enjoyed their most successful Sella Descent in Spain in more than 10 years.

Paddling the Sella is definitely on the bucket list of any dedicated canoeist and is ultimately the most cherished title in river racing. It has turned many a local Spanish paddler into a god.

Some so highly revered that they are given way on the water.

Manuel Busto Fernández is one such paddler who, with 10 world marathon titles to his name and countless medals, is rightfully the King.

It is with much excitement to report back that our own Greg Louw, who teamed up with Andy Birkett, won a bronze medal.

“The pace was like the first lap of a 10km time trial, but for the whole 20km race, it was intense,” an elated Louw said.

Birkett and Louw had a tactically perfect race and used years of river experience to their advantage. A super-fast start ensured a strong position from the get go.

Arguably one of the tightest Sella races of the last decade, it culminated in a super-close end sprint.

“We managed to get into the right place in the end-sprint and just stayed on the right of the two Spanish crews, because we knew those two Spanish boats were going to try to kill each other. We are stoked, over the moon,” four-time Dusi Canoe Marathon champion Birkett said after the race.

The pair are excited about their World Marathon aspirations in September.

“I don’t think we expected this, but it is nice to take something like this to the World Marathon Champs and to have raced against those two [Spanish] boats that everyone is trying to hang with,” Birkett said.

Abby Adie and her partner, Laura O’Donaghue, scored a shockingly convincing win in the women’s race.

“We were seeded 311th, which wasn’t too bad, and we got such a good start that we were able to get away from the other women at the first corner where there were quite a few pile-ups and things got quite chaotic. But we managed to stay clear of all that mayhem and carnage, and that set us up for the rest of the race,” Adie said.

Meanwhile in Port Alfred today, Port Elizabeth and East London will face-off in the Kowie Inter City Challenge.