CALL it fate but the day Debbie Lewis arrived in Durban from Johannesburg she passed scores of paddlers crossing the finish line of the Dusi Canoe Marathon.

She was driving along Riverside Road and at the time had no idea about the Dusi. She didn’t think that years later she would second someone at the race and also complete the three-day race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

Fast forward to 2025 and the 59-year-old is now aiming to complete her 22nd Dusi Canoe Marathon, and her eighth overall in a K1 (singles) canoe.

Also read: uMdloti paddler’s quest for Dusi title number four

“Hockey was always my sport so when I moved to Durban, I didn’t know anyone and joined a local hockey club. In that group of people who played hockey, one of my friends was also a paddler. She convinced me to be the driver (seconder) on the route for the one year and I think I did it for four or fives races before thinking I need to paddle the Dusi myself. I gave up hockey altogether and started paddling and in 1991 I completed my first Dusi. It is also a strange coincidence but the day I arrived in Durban I saw all the canoes crossing the finish line of the race,” she said.

Lewis, a former educator at Danville Park Girls’ High School and now a personal trainer, explained the appeal of the iconic race and why she keeps coming back.

“Once I’d completed my first the bug just bit. The race is just the ultimate challenge. Out of all the things I’ve done in sport, from hockey to road running and other sports, nothing comes close to the physicality of the Dusi. It is a privilege and a massive achievement to get through three days of paddling. The Dusi has also taught me that you can do anything and that age isn’t as big a factor.

“The biggest thing for me is to prepare well with training and I’ve done that before every major race. You also have to plan for the unexpected, which is another feature of the Dusi as anything could happen. The thing I love the most is the race mixes it up from trail running with a canoe, avoiding overhead bushes, going uphill and downhill, following the twists and turns of two rivers and then getting past rapids. There is a massive thrill to it,” she said.

Also read: Debut Dusi looms for Durban North resident

Asked about her most memorable Dusi, Lewis described her 19th Dusi.

“I was in a K2, I’ll never forget it as it was a doubles year. My race partner and I were about 10km into the route on Day 2 when we wrapped our canoe on one of the rocks. While the canoe didn’t break it was clear we couldn’t paddle any further. We attempted some patch repairs but it was until we got to the Marianny Foley Causeway that an old man, who was seconding his son-in-law, helped us patch up the canoe to make it stronger.

“We then got permission from the race organisers to walk a back road and we walked between 15km to 19km with the boat on our shoulders. In fact we were the last boat to come in to the Day 2 finish. We then fixed the canoe up and completed the race on a brilliant Day 3 with no swims. That will always stand out because we were so determined to finish the race without any thought to giving up,” she said.

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