UMDLOTI’S Christie Mackenzie and Andy Birkett won the respective women’s and men’s titles at this weekend’s N3TC Drak Challenge.

Both paddlers have confirmed that they will be returning to the Dusi this year and they both showed their imperious skills on a full river in the Southern Drakensberg over two days.

Mackenzie’s victory was far less straight-forward though as she had to edge Nikki Birkett in an end sprint for a second year in a row to claim back-to-back Drak titles.

For Birkett, he managed to open a healthy gap at the end of the first day and then maintained his advantage throughout to claim a 10th Drak title.

Birkett had a minute lead overnight and then finished 30 seconds ahead of teammate Matt Fenn on day two to win by just under one and a half minutes.

Matt Fenn, who was Birkett’s Dusi partner in 2024, finished in second place while defending Drak Challenge champion and uMdloti resident Hamish Lovemore claimed the final step on the podium.

The women’s race followed an almost identical pattern to 2024 when Mackenzie once again edged Birkett by a matter of seconds to claim victory.

Mount Moreland’s Saskia Hockly rounded out the women’s podium with a second consecutive third place finish at the event following her bronze medal in 2024 and she was followed by Mount Edgecombe resident Jenna Nisbet in fourth.

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