On Friday evening, Jeep Team’s multiple world-champion paddler, Hank McGregor, claimed his sixth 2015 FNB Varsity College Marine Surfski win, just days after being named KwaZulu-Natal’s Senior Paddler of the Year at the annual KZN Canoe Union Awards.
At Race#9 – the HiQ Surfski Challenge – McGregor was intent on a fifth consecutive victory despite having already secured the overall series title the week previously. McGregor remains unbeaten in the series; every race he has competed in he has won.
McGregor and long-time surfski rival, Matthew Bouman, were racing neck-and-neck for the majority of the challenge, with McGregor’s experience and skill outshining that of Bouman on the final stretch.
Said McGregor, “Winning the overall series is just a bonus and I really just go out there and race as hard as I can whenever I race and Friday was no exception.”
McGregor’s latest victory adds to a fast-growing list of 2015 achievements, including being awarded KZN’s Senior Paddler of the Year at the KZN Canoe Union Awards, which were held in Pietermaritzburg at the end of February.
On the evening, McGregor also walked away with awards for Senior KZN Single Ski, Senior KZN Double Ski and KZN Mixed Doubles River Marathon, and was re-awarded his senior colours for KZN and South Africa.
This past weekend, Jeep Team’s Barry Lewin also walked away with the highly contested KwaZulu-Natal Lifesaving Championship title for Single Surfski.
