Sunday, 08 May 2011 14:35
Bouman sets high early standard; Winter wins ladies race
Durban - Surfski powerhouse Matt Bouman set a high standard for the 2011 edition of the Discovery Sunglass Hut Surfski Series as he destroyed a competitive field in the New Balance Season Starter, race one of the ten race series.
Cold, windy conditions made life difficult out on the open ocean, but the elements were never going to prevent a determined Bouman from stamping his authority on the series early on and a strong performance saw him finish an emphatic 250metres ahead of the rest of the pack.
“It was great to be back in the ski again! I’ve been doing a lot of extremely tough sprint training recently and so to get back out onto the ocean again was just awesome!” said Bouman.
“The sea actually got quite fun about halfway down, with a couple of good runs and a bit of a bump and then it was just a hard grind coming back into the wind.”
“Some of the other guys are going pretty well at the moment so to have won is great. I think maybe it’s just my sprint training that is the difference at the moment,” he added.
With qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics very much the priority at the moment for the paddling ace his participation in the series may be slightly limited however if his performance on Sunday was anything to go by then Bouman will certainly still be a major force to be reckoned with throughout the winter series.
“I love this series! There is so much history in these races. It’s where it all started for surfski way back when and I’ve been doing some of them since I was fifteen years old so I would love to be able to do as many of them as possible. I’ll just have to see how many I can fit in with my sprint schedule,” said Bouman.
Having put in many a hard yard over the past couple of weeks after enjoying a long off-season, Barry Lewin was satisfied with his strong second-place finish behind Bouman.
“The guy is just a machine! Whatever he’s doing at the moment I want some!” chuckled Lewin of Bouman.
“It’s great to get the first race under the belt and settle some nerves. I’m happy with the improvements I’ve made over the past four weeks and to have grabbed second is great,” said Lewin.
“I’m not so chuffed to be finishing two hundred and fifty metres behind Matt (Bouman) though and so there’s obviously a long way still to go, especially looking ahead to the World Cup in a few weeks time,” he added.
Mark Mulder won a dramatic final sprint with Adam Nisbet to claim the final spot on the men’s podium.
In the women’s race it was all Donna Winter who, after also having a bit of a break, has been training extremely hard in recent weeks and is eager to test her abilities against the ever-strong Michelle Eder and the rest of the women’s field.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks trying to get fit again so I’m a bit tired at the moment and the wind made things pretty tough coming back,” said Winter.
“Obviously I’m really happy with the win but Michelle (Eder) is always such a strong paddler and with her not being able to paddle today we’ll just have to wait and see how things go when she gets back,” she added.
In the doubles race it was Brett Hadiaris and Ross Fountain who took home the spoils as the two used the conditions to their advantage superbly.
“The wind was really tough but I think it was actually in our favour because the other guys seemed to stay with us on the down runs but coming back is where we seemed to pull away a bit,” explained Hadiaris.
“We were probably a bit lucky because we didn’t have the strongest of competition out there today but it’s great to start off on a winning note,” he added.
The glum weather had seen enthusiasm levels being a little low for some who waited in anticipation the startline, however these temporary gripes were soon dispelled as a large pod of dolphins made a late entry into the race and proceeded to play with the paddlers throughout the duration of the event.
“For me it’s one of the reasons I keep coming back for more. To see a sight like that whilst you’re out there just makes it so worthwhile and instantly you forget about the cold or how tired you are and you enjoy your time out on the water so much,” said women’s singles short course winner Claire Lindsay.
The second race of the series, the Powerade on Dairy Beach race, takes place on Sunday 15 May at 09h00 and Durban Surf Lifesaving Club.
More information can be found at www.surfski.co.za
SUMMARY OF RESULTS - NEW BALANCE SEASON STARTER
FIRST LEG OF THE DISCOVERY SUNGLASS HUT SURFSKI SERIES
Long Course - Men
1.Matt Bouman 51.21
2.Barry Lewin 53.50
3.Mark Mulder 54.56
4.Adam Nisbet 54.57
5.Oliver Burn 55.03
6.Dirk van den Berg 57.14
7.Luke Nisbet 58.14
8.Shadrack Mkhize 58.20
9.Shaun Austin 58.29
10.Nigel Stevens 59.10
Long Course - Women
1.Donna Winter 1:04.16
2.Cecylia Karcz 1:28.31
Long Course - Doubles
1.Brett Hadiaris/Ross Fountain 54.38
2.Natalie Veckranges/Jean-Luc Mauvis 56.05
3.wayne Volek/Somin Russell 56.39
Short Course - Singles
1.Luke Steenkamp 22.04
2.Jason Gifford 23.33
3.Adrian Harper 24.09
Short Course - Doubles
1.Shaun Simpson/Callie Watts 22.13
2.Kean Nicholson/Melissa Nicholson 24.43
3.Maya Oppermann/Lauren Glossop 28.13
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