The Liffey Descent this Saturday has bagged the biggest name in marathon canoeing.
South African Hank McGregor comes to the event having just won the K1 (racing kayak, single) and K2 (double) events at the World Marathon Championships in Brandenburg in Germany – bringing his tally of world senior titles to eight.
The 38-year-old, who will compete in the K2 on the Liffey with his friend and business partner Lee Furby, has a particular reason for taking on the Liffey.
“Lee asked me when we were coming back from competing in Hawaii to pick any river in the world where I’d like to compete, and I said the Liffey Descent. We looked up the calendar, and it was a week after the worlds.
“When I was just 16 I took it on with my dad, but we broke our boat at the first weir – so it’s kind of unfinished business.”
Marathon racing at world level is generally run over laps on flat courses with portages, with river marathons a different, more varied test.
Jasper Mocké, who took gold with McGregor in the K2 in Brandenburg, is also set to take on the Liffey.
He will compete in a surfski, a boat favoured by South Africans who are the best in the world at marathon canoeing.
McGregor says he has not thought too much about whether he and Furby can win the K2 class.
“We’ll try to make it to the finish, see where we are then.
"There are some fast Irish guys," he added. "Peter Egan and Barry Watkins."
Watkins, who has made his name as a sprint canoeist, came close to causing quite a shock in Brandenburg.
He placed 10th in the K1 race, just 57.5 seconds behind McGregor over the 29.8 km course.
This was an excellent result for the 27-year-old, who had not raced a marathon since he was a junior nine years ago, and only chose to compete in Brandenburg 10 days before the race.
He is now considering switching to marathon, with the goal of winning in the world championships.
He will compete in the Liffey Descent in the K2 with Gary Mawer. They are a good partnership having finished first in this boat in 2014 and second in 2015.
Jenny Egan will compete in the K1 on the Liffey, on the back of a frustrating result in Brandenburg.
She placed eighth in the women’s K1, raced over 26.2 km. She was up with the leaders until a handle on her boat broke when she was carrying it on third portage of six.
“I’m so upset; it was the perfect race until that happened.”
Egan had taken silver for Ireland in the 5,000m marathon race at the World Cup in Racice in the Czech Republic in May.
Taking on the Liffey Descent in the K1 will be a first for her as a senior paddler.
The race runs downriver from the K Club at Straffan weir (starting at 12pm) to the Garda Boat Club in Islandbridge.
