Terry 0417 977 330

terry@canoeingdownunder.com.au

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http://www.northwestcanoeclub.org.au/?overview=5

https://qld.canoe.org.au/2012/03/16/gregory-river-race-north-qld/

When I looked at the 65 plus category and saw who was paddling I instantly thought this was just about as good as a championship line-up. I certainly knew I would have my work cut out. With so many good paddlers I probably wouldn’t even get a 3^rd place.

It was good to see about 130 paddlers had entered. It has always been one of the biggest club races on the calendar with many paddlers from Ascot who rarely race other races, take part.​​​​​​​

There was a lot of activity around the club when I arrived to help out at 7am so most things were already done. The weather didn’t look too good, lots of rain in the air but with a lot of under-croft shelter at least paddlers had plenty of room to keep dry.  

By the time the briefing came around there was a real buzz about the place. It’s been a long time since it actually rained at a John Sims race and as we got on the water it was getting brighter so it meant I didn’t need to wear a thermal to keep warm.

The doubles and selected K1s took off first followed two minutes later by all the other K1s including me. I got a reasonably good start although heaps of paddlers were still in front of me within 50 metres. About 200 metres into the race Rob Roll suddenly diverted from the middle of the river and across my bow heading towards the left side of the river, which had me wondering why. Rob is always really fast off the line so it was unusual, but was he going to the edge of the river for a pee or was a wash taking him that way? He soon levelled out and sped off with me chasing him towards Sandy Beach. As we rounded the corner I passed Ron Clarke, John Dinucci and Andrew Hewlett which felt pretty good. I then paddled hard to get level with Rob and for the next 2 kilometres, after settling in, we shared the lead. ​​​​​​​

When Tom Rogan rocketed by I managed to catch his wash for a few metres but trying to keep up with someone so fast took it out of me, and although Rob was now behind me I expected he would catch up as I was getting my breathe back. I pushed on for the next kilometre expecting he would draw level but as I turned the corner at Fishmarket Reserve it was young Jeremy Alderson who started to pass. I knew Jeremy was fast as he is going to race in an Asian Sprint Regatta next week so I expected him to fly by, however when he came by he wasn’t powering away roo strong and I was able to keep up with him quite comfortably. Then another young paddler caught up and that was it, they were gone.

Josh and Brendan were the first paddlers in a K2 on the return leg, a little later Luke Dooley was surrounded by 2 K2s and 2 K1s.

​​​​​​​I turned at Barkers Bridge being the first old paddler and wondering why. Don’t get me wrong I was pretty happy being in front but I knew I couldn’t let my guard down. All the paddlers in front were too far away for me to be inspired to catch them up so I just had to work alone and try to keep the pressure on hoping my competition stayed behind. Another 3 kilometres went by and I was still alone. There have been few, if any races this year that I haven’t had a paddler close by, either to keep up with or to catch up with, so I was wondering if I was putting in enough power to keep ahead.

I could see a boat behind catching up but I didn’t know who it was. I was getting a little worried as it could have been one of my competitors. When the ski eventually caught up, just before Pickering Park, about 2 kms from the finish I saw that it was Bruce McWhirter. That wasn’t so bad as he was younger and a faster paddler than me but he had brought John Dinucci with him and John was the same age and in the same class as me so that wasn’t so good.

With 2 kilometres to go I knew I had to hang in there so I joined Bruce and John making sure I didn’t get left behind. I didn’t mind Bruce getting ahead but I couldn’t afford to let John get ahead. At Sandy Beach Wayne Martin and Brett McDonald started to pass at a good pace. I decided to latch onto Wayne so I just paddled my heart out and tried to keep up. He was going a lot faster than I wanted to go but I needed to get away from John so I gave it my all. About 300 metres from the finish line I knew I was far enough ahead of John to beat him so pretty exhausted from the sprint I steadied my pace and paddled to the line in first position in the over 65s.

John and I have duelled a lot over the years and he has beaten me more times than I have beaten him so I can never let my guard down. The only time I have beaten Robby Roll in a flat water race is the time he fell out and with Ron we seem to take it in turns but when he’s at his best he is faster than me but today Ron and Robby weren’t feeling too well so that’s the only reason I managed to keep ahead of them.

It was another good race and like always the organisers did a great job. There were also lots of prizes including a $400.00 paddle and other items that I had donated. Bruce McWhirter donated lots of chocolate and there was plenty of wine on offer. 

​​​​​​​Results here:

https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=135445​​​​​​​