Hank McGregor’s record is proof enough that he’s a natural-born paddler

When one does the number crunching on SA watersports wonderman Hank McGregor, logic leads to the conclusion that he’s a natural-born paddler.        ’

After all, 13 Berg River Canoe Marathon wins (the most recent of which was earlier this month), three Dusi Marathons, seven Fish River Marathons, a junior world canoe marathon title and 11 senior ICF marathon world titles all add up to sumptuous success.

And even at the ripe “old” age of 45, there’s still no sign of Father Time coming a-knocking on McGregor’s powerful shoulders.

The funny thing is that deep down, if McGregor had the choice he would have been a runner.

“Sure, I was a water baby from day one. My first few years were spent on a yacht in the Mediterranean and Caribbean before I came back to Cape Town and moved onto a wine farm near the Berg River,’’ he recalls.

“So I started paddling on the Berg when I was about six. My dad Lee was trying to win the Berg at the time. Soon we moved up to Durban and I started running at school.

“So if I had to choose then, I’d rather have been a runner, I find it easy and, basically, you can either run or you can’t. I represented my school at cross-country and on track over 1,500m/3,000m.”

But a disease then decided the course of his career. “I got a condition called Osgood-Schlatter disease and could either stop running for a few years while my knees matured or have an operation. I opted to take up paddling more seriously, started winning at the age of 15-16 and the paddling bug bit.”

McGregor’s first Berg was as an 18-year-old in 1996 when he did it with his dad, a much decorated SA swimmer. “I actually led the race for the first few kilometres, racing with legends like the ‘Berg king’ Robbie Herreveldt.”

But it all blew up in pretty spectacular fashion. “After about two hours we came to this low-level bridge with people standing cheering on the top, exactly like the finish had been described to me.

“I said: ‘Dad, is this the finish?’ He turned to me and I’ll never forget this words: ‘Son, we haven’t even got halfway through the stage yet!’

“It was like an atomic bomb going off in my body,” recalls Hank. “I was broken but still went on to place eighth eventually and win the first junior category.”

That first race earned McGregor his respect for the Berg, something he’ll always have. “This year was my 16th ... although I did a ‘virtual’ Berg during the Covid-19 pandemic, very cold and lonely but satisfying at the end.

“It’s a long and gruelling race and every time I finish the Berg it’s a tick for the family box because it’s the one race my dad was never able to win.”

Apart from the Berg, SA’s other major river marathon is the Dusi, and let’s not forget the Fish River Marathon in the Eastern Cape, but when it comes to comparing the first two, McGregor says it’s like comparing a fridge to an oven.

“Wow, they’re just at the opposite end of the spectrum in so many ways. Dusi is actually closer to an obstacle/adventure race compared to the Berg. It’s half the distance and a day less [three compared to four] but you run probably a minimum of 30km of portaging during the three days of Dusi.

“For the Berg, you’re packing extra clothes just because of the cold and the temperature is normally close to 1-2°C with the wind chill factor in the rain, sometimes snow on the mountains. In the Dusi, you’re literally cooking in a canoe — it’s so hot, no wind, no air, or shade, even the water seems warmer than the air temperatures.

“In the Dusi your legs get sore, in the Berg your bum, arms and hands get sore. At Dusi your shoulders get rubbed raw from running with the boat. And in Dusi you’re watching the rapids and trying not to break your boat, and in the Berg you’re focusing more on trying to avoid tree-blocks and finding the best lines.”

So, two unique races, but unique in the South African canoeing culture.

Talking of rapids, McGregor remembers his scariest moment in a flash.

“I was paddling the Umkomaas Marathon with a friend a few years ago — it’s a race with massive white-water, probably some of the biggest white-water in the world. We came to Rapid 5&6 and there were some backmarkers [it was a reverse-order start] who had got stuck so we slowed down, which compromised our own momentum and we spun around, and went down backwards.”

Now, at 1.87m tall and 86kg, McGregor is not exactly a small man, but even he was rendered insignificant by the sheer force of nature.

“We got jammed and it felt like my legs were breaking off at the shins as the boat buckled under the rock. I was taking the full force of the rapid on my chest and the water was up to my neck. If I let go I’d fold backwards and it would be game over for me.

“The air pocket in the boat was the only thing keeping it afloat. The organisers shut off the rapid to other paddlers as we were bang in the middle of the wave train. I honestly thought this was the way I was going to go ... but eventually the boat broke a bit and I got one leg out, we managed to hold on, get out of the rapid, found some more paddles and eventually went on to finish third.

“I really thought that was my last day and every time I’ve been down that rapid again I have the hugest respect.”

Instead of letting go, McGregor goes onwards and upwards and manages to cram an awful amount into his weekly life.

It’s very much a business and family life in perfect sync. During the day he runs the company his dad started, Lee’s Plant Hire, the family business having been around for more than 40 years.

He celebrates his 10th wedding anniversary with wife, Pippa, this year and she’s just as much a part of the water wonderland as him. “We recently won the sub-veterans section of the World Masters Cup. That was just super enjoyable to stand on the podium, listening to the national anthem and watching your country’s flag go up — not many couples get to experience that.”

And the couple’s two children, Torsten (9) and Max (4), are also water babies, perfectly comfortable when paddling on the ocean or flat water. Torsten’s already experienced that winning feeling with his dad, having recently won a race in the S2 category.

Asked about his sheer longevity in the sport — he has no plan to rack his boat for good any time soon — and McGregor says it’s a mind game.

“I think my upbringing has a lot to do with my resilience. I toughed it out early in my life. There are more talented paddlers than me who gave up a lot earlier when the going got tough. I did so much tough training as a kid that I think perhaps I trained the brain more than the body. It’s amazing what the body can do if the brain is still keen and focused when it comes to racing. I have my dad to thank for that, he always believed in me.”

It also helps that in an expensive sport — in marathon racing the top boats can cost R65,000 to R70,000 a pop and a top-notch carbo surfski can cost R35,000 — loyal sponsors EuroSteel always had his back, along with Gara Racing Paddles and Fenn Kayaks.

“They’ve been a huge help and with their backing I constantly have new things to target. I’m in Spain two weeks from now, taking on the Sella Descent, one hour of flat-out river paddling against the world’s best, then it’s world surfski champs in Australia at the end of the year. That’s the other big one I want on the mantlepiece — and of course there’s nothing like beating the Aussies Down Under.”

One thing’s for sure: it’s going to take a lot to get on top of SA’s wonderman of the water any time soon.