South Africa’s two canoe sprint stars, Hamish Lovemore and Esti Olivier, did everything expected of them at the South African Championships at the weekend and successfully began their long journey to Los Angeles 2028.
Header Image: Esti Olivier (front) and Alexa Godden combined to claim wins in the 500m and 200m K2 events at the SA Sprint Championships at Roodeplaat Dam. (PSA /Gameplan Media)
World Cup silver medalist Lovemore spent only Friday and Saturday at the three-day championships held on Roodeplaat Dam, but was relatively unchallenged as he collected three wins in his three K1 races – 1000m, 500m and 5000m – and teamed up with Denmark’s Jonathan Dagnaes to win the K2 500m.
Lovemore headed to a training camp in Spain on Saturday night and on the flight to Europe will not have lost any sleep worrying over his form. He was almost five seconds clear of Dagnaes in the 1 000m event – the race he hopes to be taking part at LA28 and thus the focus on his training for the next two years. Add in a convincing win in the 500m and 5000m events and it it looks as if his early-season form is on track.
Olivier will also have left the green waters of Roodeplaat wearing a satisfied smile. Convincing wins in the 500m and 200m K1 races, and even bigger wins in the corresponding K2 races with young Alexa Godden, also point to a training program that is on track for the experienced 33-year-old Olympian.
The pair can now contemplate their first European events of the year with some confidence, but will be well aware that the standard in the World Cup races in Hungary and Germany will be a significant step up, and four- and five-second wins will not be likely.
While most of the focus was understandably on the two Olympic hopefuls, another paddler who will have been happy with two senior gold medals will be former Olympic medalist Bridgitte Hartley, who claimed wins in the 5000m and 1000m – the two K1 events Olivier did not paddle.
The championships were the designated trial events for teams to compete in three international regattas: The senior World Championships in Poland in August, the junior and U23 World Championships in Canada in July, and September’s Olympic Dreams regatta in Slovakia which is designed to give young, future stars international experience. The teams for those will be announced shortly.
SELECTED FINAL RESULTS
Men – K1
1000m
1 Hamish Lovemore 03:44.44
2 Jonathan Dagnaes 03:49.20
3 Ulvard Hart 03:49.45
500m
1 Hamish Lovemore 01:40.08
2 Jonathan Dagnaes 01:41.99
3 Ulvard Hart 01:43.30
200m
1 Mike Arthur 37.07
2 Henry Van Der Walt 37.27
3 Christjan Coetzee 37.53
5000m
1 Hamish Lovemore 21:38.52
2 Ulvard Hart 21:39.44
3 Jonathan Dagnaes 21:45.60
Women – K1
1000m
1 Bridgitte Hartley 04:40.83
2 Helen Jansen Van Vuuren 04:56.12
3 Kayla Szalay 05:02.98
500m
1 Esti Olivier 01:56.14
2 Bridgitte Hartley 02:01.11
3 Alexa Godden 02:01.87
200m
1 Esti Olivier 44.13
2 Alexa Godden 46.45
3 Helen Jansen Van Vuuren 50.43
5000m
1 Bridgitte Hartley 26:40.98
2 Helen Jansen Van Vuuren 27:18.41
3 Alexa Godden 28:18.05
Men – K2
1000m
1 Shaun Rubenstein / Mike Arthur 03:39.59
2 Kwanele Banda / Menzi Mthembu 04:01.80
3 Sibongeleni Mzimba / Hayward Gibson 04:16.92
500m
1 Hamish Lovemore / Jonathan Dagnaes 01:32.60
2 Shaun Rubenstein / Mike Arthur 01:35.06
3 Ulvard Hart / Clinton Cook 01:35.72
200m
1 Mike Arthur / Jonathan Dagnaes 34.65
2 Chrisjan Coetzee / Nicholas Weeks 34.91
3 Uli Hart / Clint Cook 36.91
Women – K2
500m
1 Alexa Godden / Esti Olivier 01:52.05
2 Helen Jansen Van Vuuren / Kayla Szalay 02:02.67
3 Gabriela Van Rooyen / Lesedi Bobo 02:12.82
200m
1 Alexa Godden / Esti Olivier 42.84
2 Helen Jansen Van Vuuren / Kayla Szalay 47.47
3 Gabriela Van Rooyen / Lesedi Bobo 52.27
