SUCCESS AT THE RIVERLAND PADDLING MARATHON
NEWSFLASH!! Final Results available now here
For the 22nd consecutive year the Riverland community has viewed with interest as a host of canoes, kayaks, surf skis, outriggers, dragon boats and surf boats have descended on their community over the long weekend. The spectacle was not confined to just the river with the streets of the Riverland towns alive with water craft of all sorts on the tops of cars or on specialised trailers.
With 180 paddlers this year, the Marathon Canoe Club of SA successfully hosted the Riverland Paddling Marathon. The event, which is held annually over the three days of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend is one of Australia’s premier long distance canoe marathon events.
The Riverland Paddling Marathons (RPM) is actually four paddling events in one with human powered paddle craft taking to the Murray River in either Ð
á The Murray 200, a 208 km three day paddle from Berri to Morgan,
á The 200 Relay, a Relay paddle with 3 sections per day from Berri to Morgan,
á The less arduous Murray 100; which is actually a 93km paddle in sections starting at Loxton,
á Or the Mini-marathon a short course event designed for the novice.
This year’s event was held in very good conditions. Saturday and Sunday were very pleasant days on the river with cool conditions and only occasional wind. Sunday had stronger winds but thankfully these were only a small disadvantage on limited stretches of the river.
The youngest paddler on the water was only 14 and the oldest was 75. Interestingly the gender balance was pretty close to 50/50 but there was great diversity in boats on the water with kayaks, canoes and a number of outriggers as well as surf boats and dragon boats.
There were a number of father/son/daughter combinations including Mark & Emily O’Brien from West Lakes and Michael & Ben Gallard from Encounter and Holdfast. We even had some husband & wife teams. Katie and Russell Knight, recently returned from QLD, Clive and Deb Grant and Kevin and Helen Duffy – being Helen’s first M100.
Some outstanding performances were achieved this year. Graeme Bowes had a great paddle, travelling from Ballarat to paddle the full distance of 208km as a single paddler in a TK1 and the evergreen Bill Robinson from Victoria not only paddled the 208 km in a single kayak but he also made the sea kayak that he paddled in.
Alex Palmer put in an outstanding effort on the water and was subsequently awarded the $200 Junior Incentive Prize
Bob Schmidt and Roger Magor from the Onkaparinga Canoe Club paddled like the well oiled team they are in the Murray 100 event, TK2 Men’s Vet while Russell and Katie Knight put in an outstanding effort in the mixed TK2 Vet class.
The first long distance paddlers over the line were the Jaffa team of Philip Archer and Brad Butler from Encounter Paddling in a little over 23 hours. A combined open team from Encounter Paddling and Holdfast also took line honours in the 200 Relay with a K1 team including Marc Brehin, Ben Gallard and Tim Symonds.
The Red fins team from Interchange deserve a special mention as they paddled double plastic kayaks for 208kms with a one able bodied paddler accompanied by a person with an intellectual disability. Interchange works in partnership with volunteers to provide a range of respite options for families of children and young people who have intellectual disabilities.
West Lakes Canoe Club won the club incentive award narrowly surpassing the efforts of the Holdfast Canoe Club.
Paddlers came from varied backgrounds with two paddlers travelling from Tasmania to paddle the Murray 200. In fact more than a third of the field came from interstate this year and several prominent members of the Australian paddling fraternity participated.
The local community of the Riverland benefited significantly from the RPM event with over 1000 people visiting the Riverland area over the three days to either participate or view the event. Waikerie Football Club was particularly supportive of the event, hosting a dinner on the Saturday night for over 100 people. The assistance of local St John’s volunteers and emergency service personal was also greatly appreciated as was the assistance provided by the Scout Association Radio group.
