Work done over the previous years has now begun to pay off and several of our paddlers have progressed from gingerly wobbling their way around the lake to racing successfully, not only on  flat water but at sea and down flowing rivers as well.

During the first term Michelle Nowers, Margaret Webb and Dylan Theron all raced very successfully in The Discovery Men’s Health Surfski Series handling some pretty rough conditions along the way and beating many of the older and more experienced paddlers.

At the East Cape South African surf lifesaving Championships both Dylan and Michelle achieved podium positions in the junior category.

We also held our first interhouse races and X house ably stroked by Dylan Theron won all of the events convincingly. Many of our paddlers also competed in the Tuesday night timetrials with our K4 achieving some impressive results.

The paddlers also had some pleasing successes in river racing and both Dylan Theron and Michelle Nowers completed races on the Little Fish, while Michelle became the first of our paddlers to complete a National multi day event when she and her partner performed very creditably on the Breede River Canoe Marathon. The culmination of the season was Dylan Theron’s fine individual performance in completing his first Fish River Marathon, a challenging two day race.

By the time this article appears in the Magazine we will be well into summer and if all goes as planned will have completed our paddling camp and the pupils will have been competing at sea again.

During the summer term paddling went well and many beginners have progressed from spending most of their time falling out and swimming in the lake, to gliding about fairly competently.

During winter we kept to a fairly exclusive group of more competent paddlers, and have had several paddlers who have progressed to racing the Tuesday night time trials.

With summer weather on its way we have also started paddling on the sea in surf skis and thank Summerstrand and Kings Beach Surf Life Saving Clubs for allowing us to use their facilities. The pupils have already impressed by their handling of difficult conditions at sea.

Those who have paddled consistently well this season are Arion Badier , Dylan Barber, Beon Hodges, Christopher Wren and Sarah Steyn. Others who have stood out in racing, coming in the top third of fields comprising otherwise only adults are Dylan Theron and the pairing of Margaret Webb and Michelle Nowers.

As most of the above mentioned group are only in grade ten, we should see our paddling grow in strength next year and be able to start entering our paddlers in national races such as the Fish and the Breede River Marathons.

Paddling has grown appreciably this year and we have welcomed many new paddlers to the sport. The group trained mainly at North End Lake with one or two exciting ventures into the sea. These seemed, unfortunately, to coincide with the arrival of uncharacteristically large swells and involved, for some, as much swimming as actual paddling.

VP paddlers participated in various time trials and races during the season. Our best senior boys were Byron Tarr, with Grant Ferreira hot on his heels and our best senior girl Donette Spies. These three, along with Mark Geel must be complimented on their unfailingly cheerful outlook and willingness to help the beginners as they fell out for the umpteenth time. They will be sorely missed next year, though, hopefully we will be seeing them paddling as seniors. We also had to bid farewell to Miss Sam whose enthusiasm and organizational skills will be sadly missed.

Several of the seniors demonstrated that their aquatic skills did not lie only on the surface of the water and enjoyed an entertaining introductory diving session at Ocean Divers.

Most successful of the junior boys was Dylan Theron, followed by Charlie Smit. Best of the junior girls were Arian Badier and Savannah Wansell. All of these pupils have the ability to become very good paddlers if they apply themselves.

Towards the end of last term there was an influx of new paddlers, particularly girls, who seem to have progressed very quickly, and we look forward to another great year of paddling.