Paddlesport Gauteng

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Contenders are underway for 64th Berg River Canoe Marathon Explore the highlights of the Berg River Canoe Marathon, where seasoned paddlers tackle a 240 km challenge in stunning scenery.

Your Berg day 1 leader board!
Please follow Berg River Canoe Marathon Facebook and Instagram for all the action as it happens. 🙏🏾
Results are posted on Full the Berg website
https://berg.org.za/results-day-one/
Please also bear in mind race officials busy timing on the finish line on the river until the last paddler is home.

MOVING DAY

14-time race winner, Hank McGregor has taken control of the Berg River Canoe Marathon and opened up a gap on young Maties student Joshua Glyn-Cuthbert.

At the finish at Bridgetown, the 48-year-old veteran has a solid two-and-a-half minute lead on his young rival and is in the perfect position of just needing to mark the 22-year-old over the next two days to ensure his 15th victory.

10 minutes behind the leading two there were some big changes with KZN's Jeremy Maher storming through the field from seventh into third place with 2024 champion Tom Lovemore 45 seconds back and moving up from sixth to fourth, while Msawenkosi Mtolo has slid into fifth with Heinrich Schloms, then Anders Hart, Paul Marais moving up to eighth, followed by Benjamin Mntonintshi and Zamokuhle Meyiwa rounding out the top ten.

Some lovely frequent updates on this race...! Check Facebook Berg River Canoe Marathon! Awesome videos and photos of various sections in the race !!!!

reporting a misty morning for the start for Day 2.

Will one of Hank McGregor or Joshua Glyn-Cuthbert warm-up first and go for an early break, or are they going to work together to consolidate their lead and then opt for some late-stage fireworks?

Our guess is KZN-based Hank is going to let Stellies student Josh lead him through the treeblocks and channels and ensure they build a bigger cushion on third-placed Msawenkosi Mtolo, and then look for an opportunity to break late in the day. Will

In the women's race Neriyah Dill is surely going to opt for a group and ride wave for as much as possible and preserve herself for the long Day 3.

Send it HUGE
will be on Berg River Canoe Marathon!

CONTENDER: Thomas Lovemore

2024 Berg River Marathon Champion Tom Lovemore has unfinished business with the four-day classic next week.

12 months ago the Knysna resident was ready to defend his title in the 2025 race and prepared for a massive battle against Berg legends, Hank McGregor (Team Euro Steel) and Robbie Herreveld. Illness ended that and Lovemore withdrew after the second day, leaving McGregor to cruise to his 14th title with Herreveld second.

In 2024, with McGregor not paddling, Lovemore and Herreveld fought a tight contest for three days with no more than two seconds separating them at the end of each stage. Lovemore then managed to eke out a two-minute advantage over Herreveld on the final paddle into Velddrif for victory.

The key question that has to be answered after McGregor's entry dropped on Wednesday is: "Can the 14-time champion be beaten at the Berg?"

Lovemore, with two thirds and a win in his four finishes, is surely best placed to end the reign of the Berg King – and probably the only person in the field that can answer that question with: "Yes, because I have recently beaten him at the Berg – twice!"

In 2023, Lovemore narrowly edged McGregor on stages one and three, but lost time on Days 2 and 4 to end third overall behind the then 46-year-old and young Jeremy Maher. Those two stage wins may not be an overall victory over McGregor, but he will know that McGregor is beatable.

There are definitely other contenders – most notably young Joshua Glyn-Cuthbert and Jeremy Maher – but there is every chance the winner of McGregor vs Lovemore could be the champion on July 18th.

Salt Kayaks

RACE FAVOURITE: Hank McGregor

14-time Berg River Marathon Winner
Race Record Holder (13:20:09 set in 2008)
Day 4 Record Holder (2:34:41 set in 2008)
Oldest Race winner (47 set in 2025)
11-time World Marathon Champion (8 x K1; 4 x K2)

The Team Euro Steel paddler is the world's most successful kayak World Marathon Championship paddler. Not maybe, not arguably – he has won more world titles than any other kayaker in the world.

Every time he sits on the start line, Hank McGregor is at the very least a contender – and at the Berg, since 2005, he has lined up as the favourite.

His versatility is phenomenal. He has won 14 Berg River Marathons over 240km, and he has won 11 World Marathon Gold Medals, collected numerous World Surfski / Ocean Racing World Championships medals, and won just about every other race in South Africa in a K1 or K2 – and enjoyed more than a few victories with his wife Pippa in a mixed double.

At 48-years-old, however, there is a glimmer of hope for his rivals. Great sportsmen unfortunately have a shelf life, and as has been seen with Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Pelé, Usain Bolt and hundreds of other sporting greats, there comes a time when winning cannot be taken for ranted.

Despite his age, in 2026 Hank is still the one to beat, and as much as his rivals this week will be keen to edge him toward the "former champion" category, his speed, fitness, skill and shrewd tactical insight make him race favourite on Wednesday.




Salt Kayaks
Euro Steel Sport
Carbonology Sport
Enduren Nutrition
Western Cape Canoe Union

RACE FAVOURITE: Neriyah Dill

As a young novice in 2024, Neriyah Dill effectively fell out of contention for victory on Day 1 of the Berg River Canoe Marathon when she faded over the second half of the stage from Paarl to Zonquasdrift. The then 18 year old lost 11 minutes to eventual winner Stephanie Von der Heyde, and despite winning two of the three remaining stages, Dill ended up six minutes off the pace overall.

This year, if her pre-race form is anything to go by, Dill could virtually have wrapped up the 2026 race by the time she paddlers into Zonquasdrift at the end of Day 1. The now much more experienced 20 year old has shown spectacular form in the four Berg Series races which covers the bulk of Days 1 and 2. Almost unchallenged in the women's races, she flirted with the top ten overall before finishing 10th among some strong male paddlers in the fourth pre-Berg river race.

On the current entry list, Dill looks an overwhelming favourite to improve on her second in 2024 and third in 2025 behind national team members Jenna Nisbett and Nix Birkett.

Her biggest challenge? The Peninsula Canoe Club member will know that a touch of paddles and a swim, a tricky treeblock, a silly mistake or a boat issue could easily scupper her hopes. Canoeing is littered with stories of "certainties" who were left wondering "what if" and the Berg River Canoe Marathon is a notoriously tough adversary, so Dill is unlikely to be over confident. It certainly seems that bad luck rather than another competitor is most likely to prevent the young rising star from claiming her first major victory.

NOTE: Entries close at midnight Monday at PaddleSport SA's entry portal (https://paddler.paddlesportsa.com/).





Salt Kayaks
Euro Steel Sport
Carbonology Sport
Enduren Nutrition
Western Cape Canoe Union
Paddlesport South Africa