AFTER winning the Kindo Covers Ozzie Gladwin in November last year, brothers Msawenkosi and Sandile Mtolo have put their names into the mix to claim this year’s Dusi Canoe Marathon title.

The 26km Ozzie Gladwin race is an important marker in the lead-up to the Dusi.

Both brothers have impressive Dusi pedigrees and Msawenkosi has a runner-up medal to his name, when he and Sbonelo Khwela finished second in the K2 race in 2024.

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Sandile is also a strong Dusi paddler and the pair will be a threat to anyone that is looking to finish on the podium this year.

Thus far, the pair have spent their build-up focusing on taking the race day by day.

“Training for the Dusi is always a very interesting process because you focus on doing the right things that you think will work over the three days, but the race is so unpredictable,” said Msawenkosi. “You really cannot predict what is going to happen, how you are going to feel so you just need to manage yourself at the end of each day of the race.”

“There’s not much that needs to be change for this year’s race. We will be just keeping with the same previous plan but maybe improve our tactics and approach for the race to know what to do and when we need to do it. We’ve both gained a lot of experience from the Dusi so we will hope that that will also help us over the three days of racing,” he said.

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Msawenkosi added he is excited to tackle the Dusi with his brother in what will be their first Dusi together.

“It’s so good to have him in the boat. We enjoy paddling together and keeping each other motivated on and off the water. We support each other a lot in both our paddling and in other parts of over lives.”

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