WINTER Sunday mornings on the water may seem like an age ago, but months of preparation will come to the fore this weekend when kayakers from Armidale this weekend compete in the gruelling Hawkesbury Canoe Classic, a 111km overnight paddle from Windsor to Brooklyn Bridge.
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A team of 35 paddlers from The Armidale School, comprising 24 TAS boys, Old Boys, fathers, and girls from New England Girls’ School and Presbyterian Ladies’ College, will be among 410 competitors in the iconic event.
TAS has competed in the event for 36 years, which is a major fundraiser for the Arrow Bone Marrow Foundation.
Paddling together in a kayak will be year 11 students Tom Mailler and Felix Gifford, who started training on Malpas Dam back in July.
“It’s going to be tough, but it’s for a good cause,” said Tom.
“I think it will be a case of the mental challenge more than the physical – especially having the will to keep going when you’re tired in the early hours of the morning.”
Felix is more confident, having kayaked a single in the past two Myall Classic events.
“We hope to do it in 15 hours, but I guess that will depend on conditions and the tides.”
TAS headmaster Murray Guest, who has paddled the Hawkesbury event on eight occasions, said it was an iconic endurance challenge at the school.
“I am sure that all those who have been preparing for it will be feeling some sense of trepidation as race day approaches, but I also know it will be an experience that is remembered for a lifetime,” he said.
Over the decades TAS has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cause.
