Sean Rice and Hayley Nixon have delivered a double victory for the touring South African paddling team by winning the men’s and women’s titles at the prestigious Nelo Summer Challenge surfski race in Portugal.
In a race totally dominated by South African paddlers, Rice was locked in a duel with compatriots Hank McGregor, brothers Dawid and Jasper Mocké, his own brother Kenny and Nicky Notten for much of the 19km race from Viana do Castelo to Ofir’s beach in Esposende.
Because he lost his GPS tracker overboard, Sean Rice’s charge went largely unnoticed by the audience following the race at the finish venue and the huge global following watching the live streaming, until he snuck into the beach finish ahead of a strong-finishing McGregor.
Rice (Think Kayaks) won his world championship title at the same event a few years back and revelled in the windy conditions and mild ocean swell on the coastal route.
McGregor (Euro Steel/Fenn) finished a close second with Notten taking the last spot on the podium from Kenny Rice.
The women’s race was totally dominated by the reigning world champion Nixon from Durban.
The Euro Steel/Vaikobi star hit the front the start and gradually opened up a massive 500m gap to win the title with ease, to go with her impressive win on her maiden Molokai Challenge crossing earlier in the year.
Kiwi Tenealle Hatton was second and South Africa’s Olympic sprinter Bridgitte Hartley was third, just ahead of expat Michele Eray, racing out of the USA nowadays.
With South African paddlers filling the podiums in many of the age groups, the Iberian outing is a good morale booster as many of the paddlers head for the flatwater marathon world championships a few hundred kilometres away next weekend.
Photos: Rice and Nixon, by Anthony Grote and John Hishin/Gameplan Media