When Sam Butcher puts oar to water at the SA Kayak Marathon Championships at Cape St. Francis, his goal will be to qualify for the 2023 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Denmark.

To do so, the Tuks law student must be on top of his game. South Africa has a proud tradition of marathon canoeing. The country's paddlers won six medals during last year's World Championships in Portugal. Andy Birkett won the men's kayak world title, while Hamish Lovemore was the under-23 world champion.

South Africa's Hank McGregor is the most successful non-European at the world championships. Only Hungary's Renata Csay (20) has won more world titles in kayak disciplines than McGregor's 11.

Butcher will compete in the K1-kayak under-23 race. He will also team up with a fellow Tuks teammate, Matthew Millward, for the K2 men's elite race. Only the first two in each category will qualify for the World Championships.

Judging by past results, Butcher has a realistic chance of finishing in the top two in the K1 race. He is a former national under-18 champion. He has also twice won gold over 1000 meters at the SA Sprint Championships.

Earlier this year, Butcher finished fifth overall in the two-day Drak Challenge at the Underberg. Birkett won, Lovemore was second, and McGregor was fourth. Matthew Finn was the first under-23 to finish.

So a likely scenario at the national championships could be that Butcher, Finn, and Ulvard Hart (3rd last year at Worlds) will duel it out in the under-23 K1 race.

Butcher believes he and Millward could finish in the top three in the K2 event.

"Matthew and I go a long way back. We have been rowing as a K2 crew for about five years. As juniors (under-20), we have never been beaten. What works for us is that we have a very similar paddling style and think alike when it comes to race tactics. During a race, we instinctively know what needs to be done to get the boat to be faster in the water.

"I sit in the front, and my job is to steer and set the pace. Matthew has to keep the timing and tell me how the race is playing out. Knowing which crews are catching up and which are falling behind is essential. In 2020, we did qualify to compete at the World Champs, but due to COVID, the event was cancelled.
"This SA is going to be tough for us. Andy Birkett is an experienced campaigner. He is teaming up with Ulvard Hart. The other crew we must watch out for will be Hamish Lovemore and Clint Lock."

According to Butcher, it seems to be a family tradition. His first memory was going to races to cheer on his dad. When he was 14, he joined in.