Birkett and Zondi glide to victory
The duo pushed themselves to a personal record time over the treacherous Burma Road portage before experiencing the thrill of crossing the finish line.
PADDLING team, Andy Birkett and Sbonelo Zondi, were the first to cross the 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon finish line at Blue Lagoon in Durban on Saturday, in front of thousands of supporters, friends and family to round out a near perfect performance by the pair over the three exhausting days of racing in the Msundusi and Mngeni River valleys.
With nearly nine minutes in the bag overnight, many expected the leaders to back off slightly on the third and final stage and play it safe however the impressive pair instead hammered the final nail into the coffin early in the day and then pushed themselves to a personal record time over the treacherous Burma Road portage before experiencing the thrill of crossing the finish line.
Birkett said the whole journey had been amazing. “I’m super chuffed, especially with our discipline over this last year. It almost feels like this is the first Dusi I’ve ever won because of the whole change in start procedure here on day three and the finish is a really amazing experience,” said Birkett.
Zondi beaming shouted, “At last. This is a dream come true for me. I’m so very, very happy. I can’t even express how happy I am today.”
It was a fourth win for Birkett after twice winning with Jason Graham and his individual title in 2011, but it was a maiden win for Zondi after near misses in the two previous years. He also became the only second black paddler, after his former K2 partner Thulani Mbanjwa, to win the race.
Triple Canoe Marathon World Champ Hank McGregor of Kayak Centre/Team Jeep and his surfski star partner Jasper Mocké finished second..
Defending champions, Robyn Kime and Abbey Ulansky, won the women’s race for a third consecutive time after one of the closest races in history. Kime earned her fifth title and Ulansky, who said on day two she will retire, added a remarkable ninth crown to her name in the world famous 119,62-kilometre race.
Their winning time of 8:50.59 was just over a minute ahead of Ana Adamova and Abby Adie (8:52.06) with Haw sisters Tamika and Bianca (9:36.35) coming in third.
