Paddling to greatness
SANDTON– Paddlers all over South Africa are getting ready for the 2021 South African marathon championships. Defending champion, Christie Mackenzie is ready for the challenge
Queen of the waters, K1 defending Dusi champion Christie Mackenzie is preparing for the 2021 South African marathon championships.
Nursing an injury at the moment, Mackenzie said training may be quite difficult but she was excited by the challenge.
“Marathons are always cool because we get to travel internationally. I am bit stressed this year because coming out of Dusi, I had a little bit of an injury and so training has been quite challenging. I have an amazing coach and I stay motivated so I will get through it,” she said.
She added that the qualifiers for the 2021 SA marathon championships was set to take place at the end of May this year.
She said her passion for the sport started at a young age and was nurtured by her father.
“So my dad got me into the sport just before I started high school, there was a river close to where we lived which sparked my love for the water. For me, Dusi is always the highlight of the year, it’s where I have the most amount of fun and it’s a great challenge.”
Staying determined and passionate, Mackenzie mentioned that one of her biggest lessons was learning how to persevere through the tough times. Her advice to up and coming paddlers was to remain consistent.
“Perseverance is key because it is a difficult sport and quite difficult to get into. It really is a lot of fun when you get into it, trust me, it gets better, you just need to persevere.”
With a number of wins under her belt, Mackenzie is completing her honours in psychology at The IIE’s Varsity College Sandton campus.
“Sport has always been my passion, now that I am busy with my degree, I’m putting my heart and soul in it. Initially, I was heading in the direction of sports science because it just made sense with what I was doing.”
She said after a lecture about psychology during a sports programme, she decided to change her course.
“I was hooked and found the lecturers words so interesting and that’s when I decided to go into psychology, so I’m quite excited I decided to follow that path.”
In terms of her future plans, she intends on doing as many marathons as she can and keeping her winning title as Dusi queen.
