THE 30km river race with 3km portage hosted by Florida Lake Canoe Club (FLCC) on December 1 as a Dusi training race took place from Daleside to Meyerton.
The portage is an essential part of the Dusi training as paddlers have to get out of the river and run with their boat for up to 18km in the endurance event scheduled to take place in February.
As the world’s toughest canoeing endurance event, it provides excellent practise for paddlers to speedily and efficiently get out of their boat, grab it, pick it up, run with it for a distance, climb up or down a river bank with it, and put it back in the river to continue the race paddling in the current, white water and through the rapids.
Colin Ledwaba from the Victoria Lake Canoe Club based in Germiston, where he lives, partnered with Peter Chissano from the South, a member of the Johannesburg Canoe Club, to gain the mileage training and improve seeding for a possible Dusi entry.
They finished second as an u-23 team in a time of two hours 28 minutes and finishing as the third u-23 double boat, proving to be very efficient and competent together.
