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Greg Louw and Andy Birkett, lead Hamish Lovemore and Clint Cook through the Soutpans Rapid during the 2023 Fish River Canoe Marathon

The best of frenemies battling for the 2025 SA K2 River Championship title

Written on . Posted in SA Canoeing.

CRADOCK (Eastern Cape) - Expect some "friendly rivalry" at this weekend's Fish River Canoe Marathon with many of the leading crews battling against former partners as they aim for victory, and with that the associated 2025 SA K2 River Championship title.

Andy Birkett and Greg Louw survived a scary swim in the 2023 Fish River Canoe Marathon but recovered to win
Andy Birkett and Greg Louw survived a scary swim in the 2023 Fish River Canoe Marathon, but recovered to win. Here Birkett's partner this year, Hamish Lovemore, and Clint Cook just avoid the two swimmers.
 
There are four crews who look most likely to be in contention for winning the two-day race from Grassridge Dam to Cradock on Friday and Saturday, but a slew of changes in paddling combinations means there could be more than normal intrigue as the various pairings battle to beat former partners.

The 2024 Fish was cancelled due to a foot and mouth outbreak in the area, and so the defending race champions this year would have been 2023 winners Andy Birkett and Greg Louw, except Birkett is teamed up with Hamish Lovemore, while Louw and Matthew Fenn will be looking for a repeat of their recent Breede River Marathon victory.

The 2024 SA K2 Champions are Clint Cook and Wayne Jacobs, but the 2024 Vaal River Marathon winners have also split, so Cook is looking to defend his national title with French former World Champion Jeremy Candy, while Jacobs and Siseko Ntondini are back in a boat together.

There is little doubt that if the leading crews are still bunched together as they approach the finish in Cradock on Saturday, then Birkett and Lovemore will be the overwhelming favourites to win a finish sprint. The Olympic sprint duo are unlikely to be matched on pure top-end speed, but, as Birkett and Louw discovered two years ago, the Fish has a habit of throwing up some curveballs

The eventual winners in 2023 looked to have blown their opportunity for victory with a swim at the notorious Keith's Flyover Rapid, but after the fright and lucky escape of not damaging their boat at the dangerous rapid, they were able to catch the leaders and eventually win.

The Candy and Cook combination will probably be the strongest on the longer flatwater sections, but the Frenchman does not have the same experience of regular big-water river racing as his South African rivals, and that may count against them over two marathon days on the rapid-littered course.

Fenn and Louw will have taken loads of confidence from their win at the Breede last month, but the level of opposition this weekend means the pairing will have to be at their best to out-wit and out-paddle the opposition, while Jacobs and Ntondini will probably need some mistakes from their rivals to sneak onto the podium.

With many surfski paddlers opting to concentrate on next weeks Ocean Racing World Championships in Durban, the women's field lacks its normal depth, with former race winner Abby Solms and Ashley Craig likely to battle it out with Bridgitte Hartley and Hilary Bruss.

Day 1 sees paddlers tackle 48km of rapid-littered river from Grassridge Dam to just after Knutsford Bridge. The second day is just 36km and does not contain as many big and dangerous rapids, but features some daunting weirs, including the infamous and often race-deciding Cradock Weir just before the finish

Pics: Bruce Viaene /Gameplan Media

SA Canoeing, 2025 SA K2 River Championship title, Fish River Canoe Marathon