Maltese kayakers do their bit for ‘the planet’

Medcomms Ltd and the Malta Canoe Racing Club (MCRC) teamed up for a 5K race and 200m sprints held in the Msida marina last Saturday.

The event was part of the Paddle for the Planet initiative which is aimed at uniting paddlers around the world for a one-day global relay event between June 4 and 6 in an effort to raise environmental awareness.

The day started off with a 5k race around the Msida marina which saw an immediate sprint-off between Chris Camilleri, Simon Gauci and Gerald DeGaetano. Camilleri immediately took the lead and as the laps wore on, his advantage increased even further.

Gauci and DeGaetano maintained second place for the first 200m but the latter pulled clear, leaving Gauci to up the ante with Nicki Borg Costanzi closing in.

The duo fought hard for third place with their boat positions changing as the laps progressed but it was Borg Costanzi who claimed third place as Gauci had to settle for fourth.

Mark Darmanin was fifth ahead of Karl Spiteri. Camilleri crossed the line in 24:29 followed by DeGaetano in 25:32. Borg Costanzi clocked 27:11 and Gauci 30:52.

The next event was a 200m race for the juniors. This not only required strength to get the boat moving but also tested their ability to handle the kayak since the course featured a turn at the end of the 100m mark.

Samuel Borg sprinted ahead with Kyle Zarb and Daniel Camilleri battling for second place. Borg stayed ahead to win the sprint in 01:51 with Zarb (01:56) and Camilleri (01:57) second and third respectively.

In the 200m seniors knock-out, kayakers were paired with a partner to race down the narrow course. First up were Borg Costanzi and Gauci. Still reeling from his fourth place in the previous race, Gauci was determined to prevail this time, and what a point he made!

Taking the lead from the start, Gauci crossed the line in 47 seconds, two seconds ahead of Borg Costanzi.

Camilleri and DeGaetano were up next for the start of an interesting duel. Sprinting ahead with force, Camilleri sped to victory in 39 seconds with DeGaetano clocking 45 seconds.

Darmanin and Spiteri, both of whom were using a surf ski, were up next. Their boat choice made the sprint even harder since they are generally used for open water rapids and are quite hard to pick up speed for a short sprint in relatively flat water. Both canoeists gave their all with Spiteri finishing in one minute and Darmanin in 01:12.

The event concluded with a talk by MCRC president Camilleri. He reminded the athletes of the importance of keeping our seas clean as well as raising awareness of the state of our seas and what we can do to help.