Top international paddlers, Michael Odvarko and Jakub Adam, are set to add even more spice to the local 2012/13 canoe marathon season. The pair, who hail from the Czech Republic, will be racing the South African circuit for the next five months, culminating with The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon in February 2013.
In the photo: Czech paddler, Jakub Adam will be taking on South Africa’s toughest canoe races this season, including The Unlimited Ozzie Gladwin that takes place on November 11
Adam and Odvarko have impressive paddling CVs – they each hold three bronze medals from the World Canoeing Marathon Championships since 2008 and they have never finished outside the top five.
Both have had a busy season this year, having raced the top events on the European calendar, followed by the recent K2 World Canoe Marathon Championships in Rome.
“We really wanted to better our bronze medal finish in the 2011 World Champs, but we had a bad start then got entangled in some rope attached to a floating buoy and dropped to 25th place. We put in a huge effort and caught up to the front-runners, managing to finish fifth just behind Hank McGregor and Grant van der Walt,” said Odvarko on arrival in South Africa on Thursday.
They are now bringing this excellent form to the South African circuit and the first race the pair will tackle is the Fish River Canoe Marathon this weekend. Racing in K1’s, they will be working together as they both hope to finish in the top 10 in their Fish debut. After this event, they have a full calendar with the Vaal Canoe Marathon in early November and The Unlimited Ozzie Gladwin on Sunday, November 11.
“We are preparing for The Unlimited Ozzie Gladwin as it’s the first seeding race for The Unlimited Dusi. The Fish will be a great testing ground and we are hoping that Hank and Grant will be there as they are defending champions. We have enormous respect for them and it will give us an opportunity to test our fitness against the best,” commented Adam.
The next five months won’t all be racing for the Czech pair as they will also be part of a dedicated training programme in the Valley of 1000 Hills. An initiative supported by their sponsors, The Unlimited, will see the team working closely with local development coaches and paddlers at the Nagle Dam training centre with the likes of head KZN Canoe Union (KNCU) development coach Thulani (Michael) Mbanjwa and up-and-coming paddlers such as Kwanda Mhlophe, Nele Cele and Lucas Mthalane.
According to The Unlimited Czech team coach and manager Craig Mustard, this is the first time that international paddlers will be formally sharing their knowledge with development paddlers and vice versa. “We are all part of a worldwide canoeing family and it’s great to see top international and local paddlers working together,” said Mustard.
“I think Adam and Odvarko will help drive our on-the-water training as we can push harder with faster paddlers around us,” said Thulani (Michael) Mbanjwa. “It’s also so good that they will be helping at Shongweni Dam and the development team there too.”
“We’ll be asking them questions so that they can help us to create and tweak our training programmes for the World Canoe Marathon Championships next year, while we will be helping them prepare for river races including The Unlimited Ozzie Gladwin and The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon. I really do believe that it’s a fair trade of strengths that will improve all our performances,” he added.
For more about The Unlimited Ozzie Gladwin, click here
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