Birkett cannot hide his Dusi surprise
AT THE end of day three of the Dusi Canoe Marathon, when Andy Birkett was already sitting in front of the media, second place was still being decided on the muddy waters of the Inanda dam, the drama seemed to have evaporated in the scorching valley heat.
Birkett, listening to the announcement of Hank McGregor’s valiant effort on the flat water to poach second place ahead of Sbonelo Khwela before the last day, asked politely what the split was. “Twenty minutes”, a journalist muttered... Even Birkett, pictured, couldn’t hide his surprise.
Even though Birkett cruised to the overall win on Saturday at Blue Lagoon, more than 24 minutes ahead of secondplace Khwela, it was premature to say that the drama was sucked out of the race as the 2017 edition had more twists and turns than a mamba writhing on the baking hot Msunduzi river banks.
Second to fourth was like a game of musical chairs and even though Birkett wrapped up the race within hours rather than days, his performance deserves huge credit.
Day one began at Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg, as the sun just peaked over the eastern ridge.
The Ernie Pearce Weir threw up its obligatory bit of drama as the first black paddler to win gold in the race, Thulani Mbanjwa, took a swim at the bottom of the weir’s left edge.
Feeling each other out, it didn’t take long for the three favourites of Birkett, Khwela and McGregor to chase each other over the Campbell’s road portage.
Many noted how strong Birkett looked running, so often Khwela’s strength but even he couldn’t keep up with overall winner on day one.
There was little drama as the front runners kept going, with Birkett extending his lead, only Mbanjwa raised eyebrows as he crossed mission rapid in fourth after his tumble back in Maritzburg.
Day two saw Birkett enjoy a fiveminute lead over Khwela, who was a further five minutes ahead of McGregor in third.
But not content with that sizeable lead, Birkett carried on at an unstoppable pace, looking at ease over Nqumeni portage as the few spectators on the koppie marvelled at the gap he had put between himself and Khwela.
A five-minute lead suddenly ballooned in 20 minutes and Birkett was all but assured the overall race victory.
McGregor has the title of the planet’s best paddler for a reason, and when he got onto the flat water he put his foot down, as he sneaked ahead of Khwela.
The announcement that day three would have a touch of “old Dusi” about it scared many of the casual punters away.
Low-water rules applied, so day three of the race essentially turned into a weighted trail run, as competitors’ trusty boats suddenly turned to a 13kg burden. 14km of running later, with a splash of paddling to quell the heat, Birkett was across the line in a magnificent 8hr 32min 55sec.
Any paddler will tell you, in recent memory, that was the toughest. The mercury in the valley topped 40 degrees, the water was conspicuous in its absence and still, Birkett had time to take a siesta under a tall tree on the lawns of Blue Lagoon before Khwela had felt his silver medal.