Years of training on the Murray River certainly is an advantage for local Murray Paddlers with members of the Yarrawonga Mulwala Canoe Club and five members of the Cobram Barooga Canoe Club competed in the 2022 Frank Harrison Interstate Canoe Marathon Challenge in Albury on the weekend.
Kayakers and canoeists from Sydney and Melbourne race from the Hume Weir through swirling and fast flowing water on the Murray River to Albury in a state of origin inspired competition.
The event was broken up into divisions with options to race 26km or 16km distances.
Competition was close with Yarrawonga junior females having great success in their divisions and playing a big part in Victoria’s overall victory over NSW.
Nikita Carroll won the Junior 16km race in a time of 1 hour 16 minutes paddling in one of the club’s new Plastex high performance racing K1. Despite a fall Kristi Hardman and Zoe Schweda recovered to finish second and third respectively.
Natalie-Drew Cole won the adaptive class and Ruby Stevens finished fourth in her first single marathon race.
Cobram’s juniors Emma Corrin, Clive Cromack and Lewis Brown also earned points for their effort to paddle the full 26km event.
Coach Tim Roadley said he was proud of the girls’ determination.
“They really showed what they are made of, juniors from Melbourne and Sydney were scared off by the fast water, but this did not stop our girls,” Tim said.
“Even falling was only seen as an opportunity to chase the rest of the paddlers down and tiredness was overcome to finish the race.”
Tim said the girls focus will now be on the Victorian Canoe Sprint championships at Nagambie next Saturday.
The club is always looking for new paddlers. If you are interested the club trains on a Monday and Thursday from the club’s canoe shed located in the Yarrawonga Holiday Park (near the boat ramp). Contact Tim Roadley on 0417 373 376 for more information.