Dusi queen stage sets up exciting final day
Updated | By Nick Tatham/Gameplan Media
The second and most challenging stage of the FNB Dusi Canoe Marathon gave supporters clarity on the men’s race with Andy Birkett coming to the fore, however the women’s race remains a mystery with just two seconds separating stage winner Christie Mackenzie and Tamika Haw.
The 42km stage is often seen as a paddlers day and overnight leader Sbonelo
Khwela would have known that his Euro Steel team mate Birkett was going to hunt
him down. He might not have thought that it was going to happen so quickly,
though.
By the time the two had reached the Saddles portage Birkett had almost erased
the deficit with just 27 seconds separating the two. At Gauging Weir Khwela’s
lead had all but been erased and Birkett was on the charge.
“I just felt good today and got into a good rhythm nice and early,” the
eight-time Dusi champion Birkett said.
“I must have caught up about 30 seconds in the first five minutes of the day. I
kept on catching him through the rapids not on the flats which was quite
surprising.
“The body felt good and I ran well on Nqumeni portage and I surprised myself by
how I managed to keep up with Sbonelo (Khwela) all the way.”
On the other side of Nqumeni lies the infamous big three rapids, Thombi
specifically has caught Birkett in the past, but this year he managed the
obstacles and paddled away from the chasing Khwela.
“I got a slight gap at Hippo and from there I just put my head down and went
hard to the finish.”
Having to hold Birkett off was always going to be a tough as for Euro Steel/Red
Bull’s Khwela and despite having a near flawless day, the former K2 champion
had to settle for second place.
“I knew that there was a good chance that Andy was going to catch me today,” he
said.
“Today (Friday) is always a long day and we know that it is a paddlers day but
I was happy with my effort and that I didn’t make any mistakes.
“Andy was super strong and consistent, he was very good today.”
Khwela knew that he had to try and delay Birkett catching him for as long as
possible and after the pair were neck and neck for a large portion of the day
until Birkett got ahead just before the dam.
“I wanted to keep a steady pace even when Andy caught me, I didn’t want to get
too excited and paddle too hard.
“I just tried to stay with him but at Hippo he put the hammer down and I
couldn’t keep up.
“So I thought that I mustn’t go hard because a mistake could let the guys
behind me catch up,” Khwela added.
It was a lonely day for Euro Steel’s Thulani Mbanjwa who spent the entire day
on his own but managed to consolidate his third place, just under 15 minutes
behind Birkett.
A really exciting race for the rest of the top five is brewing with under 18
star David Evans, Andrew Houston, Khumbulani Nzimande and Carl Folscher all
coming across the line together.
The women’s contest has become one of the closest of modern times with just two
seconds separating day two winner Christie Mackenzie and Tamika Haw.
It was a see-saw battle that saw the lead change hands on a number of occasions
with Euro Steel/Varsity College’s Mackenzie leaving the door ajar for the
opportunist Haw, who took her chances well.
Two swims for Mackenzie let Haw back into the contest; however Haw showed her
mettle to grind back onto the group with Mackenzie on the Inanda Dam stretch to
finish on her tail.
“I think I put a bit more pressure on myself today because I hoped that I would
have more time on my hands by this stage before the race,” Mackenzie said.
“The pressure might have led to the swims but when we were on Nqumeni I just
wanted to pace myself so I kept the same pace as Tamika the whole way.
“I just felt that I had to keep it together and I am banking on tomorrow being
my day!”
Haw is in unchartered K1 territory but she continues to prove that she deserves
her place at the front.
“We were neck and neck for a lot of the day and right before the dam I spun out
and lost Christie but luckily I had a wave on the dam that helped me reconnect
to Christie to the finish.
“I was hoping that I would be in this position but I didn’t expect it so I’m
just going to go as hard as I can tomorrow!” Haw said.
Jenna Ward is in third place in the ladies race just under 20 minutes behind
the leading ladies.
Euro Steel’s Alan Houston continues to lead the Under 23 showdown with Stewart
Little trailing by just under one and a half minutes and Mpilo Zondi a further
minute and 15 seconds behind Little.
Maritzburg College’s Evans has been impressive as he pushes for a famous top
five finish as a junior.
The next best junior is his Maritzburg College team mate Hamish Mackenzie 26
minutes behind him and Scott Little in third.
In the ladies age group contest Mackenzie leads the Under 23 age category with
Tracey Oellerman the next under 23 and sixth overall in the women’s race.
Amy Peckett is the leading junior girl in fourth in the ladies race with Cara
Waud and Shannon Parker-Dennison in second and third.
The third and final stage of the FNB Dusi Canoe Marathon takes paddlers 32km
from Msinsi Resort at Inanda Dam to Blue Lagoon in Durban.
For more information visit www.dusi.co.za
Overall
1.Andy Birkett 2:58:27 5:38:25
2.Sbonelo Khwela 3:04:48 5:43:25
3.Thulani Mbanjwa 3:09:03 5:53:15
4.David Evans (U18) 3:09:58 5:58:18
5.Khumbulani Nzimande 3:10:08 5:58:19
6.Andrew Houston 3:06:44 5:58:19
7.Carl Folscher 3:07:50 5:58:20
8.Alan Houston (U23) 3:08:51 6:02:09
9.Stewart Little (U23) 3:07:16 6:03:33
10.Mpilo Zondo (U23) 3:11:22 6:04:45
11.Hank McGregor 3:03:49 6:07:36
12.Owen Gandar 3:12:10 6:08:49
13.Banetse Nkhoesa 3:19:49 6:11:18
14.Maswenkosi Mtolo (U23) 3:15:18 6:11:43
15.Shaun Rubenstein 3:15:29 6:14:37
Women
1.Christie Mackenzie (U23) 3:37:38 6:59:32
2.Tamika Haw 3:38:12 6:59:34
3.Jenna Ward 3:44:43 7:19:23
4.Amy Peckett (U18) 3:47:09 7:22:37
5.Nikki Birkett 3:50:58 7:32:03
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