This sentence on Hank is totally unacceptable. Without going into long detailed reasoning the basics are as follows. Hank is arguably one of South Africas best ever paddles who has represented this country proudly on numerous occasions. He has a clean record and races accordingly. Jacque Theron has a reputation of dirty tactics on races - there are numerous reports on this. There are numerous people who would say - he got was he deserved! Sure Hank did it at the wrong time and acknowledges what he did was wrong! But when you are told on numerous occasions down the river that you only win races by cheating and then you get tipped out you boat- as you are about to win the SA title - it is bound to boil the blood of the calmest of people! Grant came out with a cut on his face – nothing seems to of been done about that. It is certain that the niggle on the river would of been both ways. But Hank is the only one been punished here! People knowingly cheat by taking drugs and their sentences are not much heavier than what Hank got – how does that work?
Hank adds great value to canoeing, in many ways that people don’t see. Don’t ban him – some kind of community service – eg coaching would help canoeing – and that is what we are trying to protect here! Canoeing is the loser at the moment. Get it right administrators – don’t lets loose Hank!

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Votes: -4

After hearing of the incident and the consequences I logged on to read a little more about it. If the quote by the CSA President is a reflection of the proceedings, it is an outrage. No mention of the incident that lead to the so called attack, what amounts to blatant cheating has been ignored. Can athletes really expect no better?

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Votes: -5

Below is a letter I found written by Graeme Bird in October 2003. Had Hank reacted at the World Champs in 2003 in the same manner he did at Umko 2010, his punishment would have been far worse. In this situation the correct process was followed which led to Hank being declared the winner. I can guarantee you that at world championship level, as Graeme says below, there is far more aggressive racing and tactics than at any SA Championship. It is part of the sport at elite level. If unsporting behavior takes place during the race then let the officials make the decision and punish those concerned. (The incident at Umko at the last rapid was looked at by the officials and was not found to be illegal). All the people going on about what caused the “attack” show a complete lack of understanding of elite level racing, and once again are trying their best to protect Hank when he loses. There is nothing wrong with losing-it happens sometimes.
There are many lessons to be learned from the incident which I hope the young aspiring paddlers have taken on.
Regards
Cedric


Oct 1, 2003
Hi All

I think all this 'abuse' that Manuel is enduring is totally un-called for and un
justified. The were only a few South African's there to witness the incident in
question, so for other people to pass judgment and comment based purely on hear
say is out of line and merely places themselves in a bad light and shows how
small minded they are.

The incident in question involved Manuel paddling very close to a row of buoys
(like the ones separating lanes in a swimming pool), thereby not leaving much
room for Hank to paddle in. This made it very difficult for Hank to mount any
serious challenge on the end sprint. In choosing to paddle close to the buoys,
Manuel then did not paddle straight for the finishing buoys and ended up
finishing outside the two buoys marking the finishing line. Just before the
finishing line, Hank cut in behind Manuel and headed at a 45 degree angle to
cross the finishing line just before the Hungarian and Ant Stott.

Manuel was then disqualified by the race committee for breaking three rules:
1. Fair play
2. Not holding his course and forcing another paddler off line
3. Not finishing between the finishing buoys.

This was a popular decision amongst all the countries present except for Spain
who then appealed against the decision. The race committee's decision was then
up held by the race jury and Hank was crowned World Champion. There will always
be differing opinions on the incident. Spain see the incident one way and we
see it another. Unfortunately for Manuel and fortunately for Hank, the race
committee agreed with South Africa's opinion.

Any World Championship, South African Championship, Provincial Championship,
local race, time trial, etc. are going to be hard races and are going to see
competitors race hard and aggressively, as this is how races are won (like it or
not). When Manuel did what he did, I am sure that he believed it to be fair and
within the rules, remembering that this was after almost three hours of racing.
With the new ICF marathon rules that have just been introduced, Manuel was the
first to bear the brunt of them and has now laid the precedent for the rest of
the paddling world to follow.

This incident does not take away Manuel's status as a fantastic athlete. Like
Bruce has said, in the heat of the moment he made an error of judgment (in South
Africa's opinion) and will probably regret it. Whether Hank would have been
able to come passed Manuel in the end sprint, had Manuel gone straight for the
finishing buoys, no one will ever know!! No one likes to win a race like this.

With regards to Manuel's decision not to come to the Fish, we need to understand
that he is upset. Manuel is a national hero in Spain and has taken alot of flak
in the Spanish press regarding this incident and it is rumored that he has lost
his major sponsor. We need to understand and respect his decision not to travel
to South Africa at this time.

This is an awesome result for South African Canoeing and let us hope that we
will go on to many more. Let us not bring down the good name of South African
Canoeing by bad mouthing Manuel or Spanish Canoeing.

Well done to Hank McGregor on his brilliant performance and his status as World
Champion is well deserved!!
Well done to Simon van Geysen and Ant Stott for the silver and bronze medals
respectively.
And finally well done to the rest of the team (masters, juniors and seniors) for
there great results.

Regards

Graham Bird
Team Manager - SA Marathon Team.

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Votes: +7

Mr Elliot, if I may reply to your post. Firstly the letter was from Graham Bird, not Graham Solomon.

There is a difference between unsportsmanlike behavior and aggressive tactics. Aggressive tactics of holding your line in a river or on the bunch is acceptable. Sledging/Hitting/Cutting off/Tipping in – is unacceptable, unsportsmanlike behaviour. Your inference that aggressive tactics means that anything goes on the water is completely incorrect. What I said is that the officials are responsible for determining when unsportsmanlike behavior takes place. You probably feel that you have more proof and information about the truth that happened in the last rapid than the officials did.

I find it interesting that you can say that for years Hank has been a target on the water. A target of what? A campaign by the top paddlers to bully and cheat him out of winning? Winning races is what the top guys do for a living – some will win and some will lose. There is no need for anyone to feel offended and targeted when they lose.
Finally, CSA has taken their responsibility seriously and imposed a ban on an athlete who violently attacked another athlete after a race. Is that not setting standards for acceptable behavior?

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Votes: +10

Having been involved in a previous incident of assault by one paddler on another after a racing incident and having served on a disciplinary committee to investigate another incident of assault by one paddler on another (in which one of the paddlers was quite seriously injured) I feel quite strongly about this issue.

And it is important to understand the issue - it is about the assault, not some suspect behaviour/tactics on the river. The ruling body (CSA) had no option but to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate, and it sounds as if the hearing was both substantially and procedurally fair, with Hank given the opportunity to appeal the measures imposed on him.

The community needs to acknowledge that assault on one paddler by another is unacceptable - irrespective of the personalities or provocation. If this does not happen, there is a strong likelihood of the incidence and severity of this type of action increasing.

(By the way, Hank's 'good' or 'bad' character has nothing whatsoever to do with this issue).

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Votes: +6

I think the harshness of the penalty imposed on Hank is at issue, not the fact that he is guilty or not. He admitted quilt and said he was sorry. Issues that should have been taken into account is his previous behavior, his stature as an elite paddler and the full extent of provocation. If he has never behaved in this manner in the past, then there must have been something different in this case to make him behave in this wrong manner.
The penalties imposed on Rugby and Soccer players, for similar actions, in much more public eye, eg millions of TV, are far less extreme.
I hope this gets taken into account should he appeal the sentence. He is far to big an asset to Canoeing and Surf-ski in SA to lose for a six months.

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Votes: +0

procedurally csa has been correct.

however, why has csa not followed protocol with other similar incidents of high profile paddlers just before this incident and why has csa not made public releases about these incidents?

secondly, how fair was the jury? i would have imagined a jury totally ignorant of canoeing personallities would be more unbiased.
colin simpkins has paddled against hank before and could easily be biased...(no implications colin. just being objective)

thirdly, it is no secret that hank mcgregor and western province share no bones as a result of his victorious berg races and in particular, fighting it out with jacques and other western province paddlers, which led to many appeals and animosity.

the current president being a staunch western province supporter and paddler and a strong contingent of the csa board being western province, i believe cannot be discounted.

needless to say, csa will sweep these comments aside, saying this or saying that to justify themselves, but the fact is that there is simply too much of a black cloud hanging over themselves and over this debacle.

csa will need more than just some clever answer to this, they will need to induce more confidence in the majority of the paddling community or some sort of rebellion would occur...

csa, you need to look after the interst of canoeing and stop petty witch hunting.

mike adams

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Votes: -1