A LEGEND in his own right, Andy Birkett approaches this year’s Dusi Canoe Marathon just one win shy of equaling Dusi King Graeme Pope-Ellis’ record 15 wins.

However, with the event set to start on February 20, Birkett has never chased records and won’t be changing his mantra for this year’s event.

“I don’t know if I would call myself a Dusi legend and I’ve never tried to count the wins,” Birkett said. “I’ve always said that I will be back for as long as I am enjoying it and I’m really looking forward to this year’s race. It’s been nice to be able to have a bit of an off season and I am just taking it one Dusi at a time and I’m grateful that I can be back at the Dusi again this year.”

Birkett, who represented South Africa at the Olympic Games last year, said he’s been able to take some time away from paddling to gear up for a busy start to 2025.

Also read: Debut Dusi looms for Durban North resident

“It was nice to be able to have two to three weeks with no paddling, I haven’t been able to do that in a long time. It has been good to have a long build-up for the upcoming Drak and Dusi races and I haven’t raced in a while, so I am excited to get back into it. I’m pumped to be back in a river boat and not feel like I’m under pressure to race in a few weeks which has been a nice change,” the 34-year-old said.

With just weeks to go until the 2025 edition of the Dusi, Birkett’s training regime has been given a slight tweak.

“This year I’ve taken a slower build-up to this year’s Dusi. I’ve been mixing it up with a lot of cross training, but the best part is the two weeks we spend in Underberg paddling down the Umzimkhulu River every single day. It doesn’t feel like training to be honest; it’s more just having fun and playing in the river with the by-product being that you get fit. I’m looking forward to racing some of the pre-Dusi races and really getting into Dusi mode as well as racing the Drak Challenge,” he said.

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