South Africa paddled to a landslide victory at the third African Canoeing Championships at Lake Tunis, winning 19 of the 24 gold medals on offer at the event.
The nine-strong South African team bagged 19 golds, five silvers and three bronze medals in winning the championships, with Tunisia in second place and Morocco in third.
South African ambassador to Tunisia Aubrey Mfabe visited the team on Saturday and was on hand to watch his athletes set the early pace at the championships.
Winkelspruit teenager Tiffany Kruger bagged the first gold of the event by winning the cadet (under-16) girls’ 1 000m sprint, after which Amanzimtoti’s Brent Chiazzari took the boys’ cadet gold, Gauteng’s Craig Simpkins won the boys’ 1 000m race, Parys paddler Angeleen McDermott grabbed the junior girls’ 1 000m gold, and Capetonian Kim Rew took the senior women’s gold.
The only 1 000m gold to elude the team was in the men’s category, where Michael Mbanjwa was third behind paddlers from Morocco and Tunisia.
The 500m races went exactly the same way on the Saturday afternoon, as South Africa established a firm grip over the top of the medals table.
On Sunday the competition moved to the 200m events, as well as a short marathon, in difficulty choppy, windy conditions. Andrew Neal took the gold in a closely contested junior race, while Brent Chiazzari rounded off a great competition by racing away to win the cadet’s marathon race. — Sapa
Results
1. South Africa 279 points (19 gold, five silver, three bronze)
2. Tunisia 143 (three gold, 11 silver, six bronze)
3. Morocco 231 (two gold, eight silver, 14 bronze)
4. Senegal 28
5. Seychelles