The paddler who masters the low river levels over the four stages is likely to be crowned the Berg River Canoe Marathon champion on Saturday. The event — in its 56th year — is going to be difficult to navigate for the brave souls who have entered the 240km race from Paarl to Velddrif. Wednesday’s opening stage is from Paarl to Hermon. A year-long drought has caused all manner of headaches for the Cape region, with dam levels extremely low. So there will be no usual pre-Berg water release to swell the route, which spells hard times for the entrants — most of whom are male. There is just a handful of women participating and only two paddled the mandatory 4km time trial on Tuesday. It was a different story for the men and no real surprises to see three of the four internationals striking a pose. Line honours went to Czech star Petr Mojzisek, who was eight seconds clear of Hungarian Adrián Boros, while local Tom Lovemore closed out the podium. Race favourite and former champion Graeme S...
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