MARK ETHERIDGE: To the water born: Hockly sisters scoop up medals

KwaZulu-Natal’s Clive Hockly descends from the original 1820 Settlers who crossed the water from the UK to settle in SA.

It’s no wonder then, that the current Hockly generation, as in his daughters, Saskia and ValmaJean, are most settled when they’re on the water.

At last week’s ICF (International Canoe Federation) Marathon World Championships in Ponte de Lima, Portugal, the Hockly haul of medals was a third of the six category medals won by the SA team.

First Saskia, 18, won bronze in the K1 (singles) junior women’s category and then, the next day, again jumped into a boat, with 16-year-old sister ValmaJean to seal silver for SA .

In 2021 Saskia had also won two bronze medals at world championships in Romania.

Take a moment to consider then that she took up paddling less than four years ago and one starts to get an indication of just how far she could go in this demanding sports code.

“Surf-life saving was my first love and I only started dabbling in paddling when I came up through the ranks at Umhlanga life saving,” she says.

“Of course, my dad was always big into his watersports — I think he’s done about 25 Dusi canoe marathons — so my first surfski race was actually with him in a double, in one of the Wall-And-Back races on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast.”

She then transitioned into flat water kayaking and turned out be a natural. “I did my first Dusi in 2020 with a friend, Georgina Howard, and then last year did my first Dusi in a K1 — was fifth woman overall and first junior.”

Talking to Saskia it’s clear the family ties are tight. “This is my last year in the junior category so I really wanted to do it with ValmaJean because I don’t know many siblings that paddle together and win medals together.

“Obviously my main focus was on the K1 [it turned out to be the hardest race of my life so far] but my sister was very accommodating. It just all made sense because we train together all the time with coach Mattie Bouman.”

The sisters had three goals in the K2 event: “To jump on the front bunch, not stuff up the first portage, and then maybe jump onto the podium. So, doing our best sealed both of us a silver medal.

“ValmaJean got into paddling because of me and I really think we can go a long way together.”

Someone who’s already come a very long way in SA paddling is Bridgitte Hartley, who won a canoeing bronze medal on the biggest stage of all, the London Olympics in 2012.

And there’s a slight hint of compassionate envy when she talks about the sisters. “It’s so nice to see them improve over the years ... and I often think how nice it would it be to have a sibling as a training partner.

“They’re always pushing each other and have a fantastic coach in Matt to keep them motivated ... their support structure is amazing and a good training set-up always breeds success.”

Getting this far sees Saskia giving huge credit to parents Clive and Antje: “Without them, nothing we have achieved would have been possible. The medals that we won are as much theirs as they are ours.”

Mom Antje, who hails from East Germany, says her role in her daughters’ successes to date has been “an absolute joy”.

“I’ve always said I’ll support them in whatever sport they do, as long as they choose to do it and then I’ll be guided by them. Their week is always so full, getting up very early for them to exercise at 5.30am before school/college and then after school.

“I’ve been their taxi, their ATM, their catering manager for so long now but I love it,” she laughs.

“I must say though that I was very excited when Saskia got her driver’s licence earlier this year, so now I’m not a taxi any more — and in turn, they’re chuffed at their independence.”

She says her girls were basically born into a watersports environment. “Saskia’s birthday is in late February so most of her early birthdays were celebrated during the Dusi Marathon, spent on the banks of the river or dam with chocolate cake and cupcakes doing the rounds.

“Then, when I was doing Dusi in a K2 with Clive, I suddenly heard ValmaJean [who was only 2-3 years old at the time], shouting out my name. She was on the banks of the river, on the shoulders of a mate of ours.

“I wondered what they were doing in a pretty inaccessible area of the river and spent the rest of the stage fretting how they were going to get back safely.”

When it comes to fretting, Saskia’s also had her share. “My scariest moment came during last year’s world surfski champs in Lanzarote, Canary Islands.

“I was racing next to the cliffs when I saw something appear just ahead of me. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but suddenly an absolutely huge tiger shark, the biggest shark I’ve ever seen, appeared about 4m in front of my boat.

“It gave me such a fright and I did a full 180 degree turn out to sea.” 

This weekend sees Saskia getting straight back into the water defending her junior title at the world surfski championships, also in Portugal... and you wouldn’t bet against her landing another big fish in the shape of a medal.