Silver for McGregor at Dusi

Salt Rock resident and triple canoe marathon world champion Hank McGregor had to settle for second place at the 2014 Dusi canoe marathon.
McGregor and his partner Jasper Mocké paddled like men possessed but were unable to beat the race favourites Andy Birkett and Sbonelo Zondi, who won the race by a considerable time difference.
“We gave it our all. We put everything we had into these past three days. We were just beaten by two very good athletes,” said McGregor.
Birkett and Zondi crossed the finish line at Blue Lagoon after recording a nine minute lead over McGregor and Mocké after day two.
The final day was fast paced, with both pairs paddling hard all the way to the finish. Both boats took on the infamous Burma Road portage and Birkett and Zondi did it in record time.
“We went up and over Burma even quicker than we did in our time trial two weeks ago,” said Birkett.
“Zondi timed it for us but when we put in at the bottom and he said 25 minutes and 20 seconds I thought I had not heard him correctly!”
McGregor and Mocké also pushed hard over the Burma Road.
“We discussed things and decided to go over Burma Road and we gave it our absolute all. We only ended up losing two minutes to Birkett and Zondi, which I thought was a brilliant effort from us, but they were just phenomenal,” he said.
McGregor previously won the Dusi K1 in 2005 and won the K2 with Martin Dreyer in 2006.
Eight years later, he was on the podium again, while Mocké enjoyed his best result at the Dusi with his previous best being fifth place in 2012.
“There is not another race in the country like the Dusi in terms of hype. It is awesome to have finished on the podium and I have loved being a part of things again this year,” said Mocké.
McGregor and Mocké finished in an overall time seven hours and 53 minutes. Birkett and Zondi won the race a full ten minutes ahead in seven hours and 44 minutes.