![\"2016drakd1houston450\"](\"http:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2016DrakD1Houston450.jpg\")
<\/a>Houston brothers Andrew and Alan tussled for the men\u2019s spoils throughout the two days of racing while the women\u2019s field saw Abby Solms lead home 2012 London Olympic canoe sprint bronze medallist, Bridgitte Hartley.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Pre-Fish was really awesome,\u201d says older brother, Andrew Houston. \u201cIt was really chilled and Alan and I paddled together the whole way so it was a really good tripping experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing the older brother though, I made sure that when we got to the finish I line I had my nose in front,\u201d he chuckles authoritatively.<\/p>\n
Based at Stellenbosch University and having opted not to take part in much of the recently concluded Western Cape river marathon season, the pair used the Pre-Fish to get some much needed mileage under their belts ahead of next weekend\u2019s Hansa Fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlan and I are fortunate enough that we mountain bike and run too, so come the end of the Dusi paddling season we hang up our paddles and hit the trails,\u201d says Andrew.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does however mean that other than two days of the Berg River Canoe Marathon \u2013 which I did absolutely no training for \u2013 Pre-Fish was the first time I\u2019ve raced since Dusi.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great to get some mileage in the arms and spend some time on the water again as we\u2019re really looking forward to this year\u2019s Fish,\u201d adds the Seed Co racer.<\/p>\n
The order of the weekend was much the same for Euro Steel\/Gara Racing Paddles\u2019 Solms after she only recently traded in her well-used running shoes for some time in the boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy focus this winter was on my first ever marathon at the Cape Town Marathon, so I haven\u2019t really been in the boat much at all and certainly a lot less than the rest of the girls,\u201d explains Solms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took it quite easy at Pre-Fish this weekend as my main goal was just to get some distance into my arms and it was nice to do some mileage again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was lots of fun and I guess the fact that I managed to have a bit of a clean run made it that much more enjoyable too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis weekend also gave me that little bit of confidence heading into Fish, which was nice, but I also definitely felt that I was down on strength compared to normal so I\u2019m going to have to rely quite heavily on experience at this year\u2019s Fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the rest of the field, the recent Pre-Fish gave Solms a first glimpse of the newly built Baroda Weir at racing river level and the four-time Hansa Fish winner left Cradock giving the new obstacle two thumbs up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new weir works really well,\u201d says Solms. \u201cThere is a bit of a hole at the bottom but it certainly isn\u2019t anything like the stopper wave at the bottom of Double Trouble!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weir\u2019s gradient isn\u2019t all that steep, so you actually go down quite slowly at the top and have quite a bit of time to pick your line before you get to the hole at the bottom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a few who had a bit of a swim there this weekend but I don\u2019t think there will be too many problems at all come Fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess what may be a factor though \u2013 more for those in the batches than us at the front \u2013 is two boats heading down at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf everyone is patient then everything should be fine though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solms also believes one less portage on the second and final stage from just below Knutsford to Cradock Sports Complex will have a negligible impact on the length of time paddler\u2019s spend in the boat.<\/p>\n
The 26 year-old did however admit that the freshly constructed obstacle may add to excitement levels in the race for the finish line in Cradock.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is obviously now an extra obstacle to get through cleanly on day two, so it does increase the risk just a little for those that will be racing for position.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weir is nothing hectic but it does perhaps add a little extra excitement to the mix, especially for us girls as the women\u2019s race will probably be all about the person who makes the least mistakes throughout the two days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2016 Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon takes place from Grassridge Dam to Cradock Sports Complex on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paddlers from around the country converged on Cradock this past weekend as the arrival of the annual water release from Grassridge Dam coincided with the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2016DrakD1HoustonSLIDER-150x50.jpg",150,50,true],"full":["https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2016DrakD1HoustonSLIDER.jpg",1050,350,false]},"categories_names":{"2":{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/?cat=2"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2015,"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions\/2015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishmarathon.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}