ANDY Birkett set a new record by winning the MyLife Dusi Canoe Marathon on Saturday, extending his number of consecutive wins to eight as he wrapped up his eleventh title in masterful style.
Birkett did not make one mistake over the three days and 120 kilometres as he posted a 21 minute victory margin over Hank McGregor, with U23 ace Dave Evans excelling by racing onto the podium in third.
Birkett was forced to race his own race and isolate himself from any challenges being mounted behind him.
“You just try and get into a rhythm, where you are just tripping and finding where the fast water is flowing and limit your mistakes,” he said. “You think about the next rapid and not much further past that. I felt that if I was going to point where I was feeling pretty tired then it must be a decent pace. So I tried not to tap off too much because the guys can then catch you. If I made a mistake I could easily have lost that twenty minute lead. “I really enjoyed the last three days of racing,” he added, saying that the records he had set we of ns significance to him.
McGregor stormed home to his eighteenth gold medal in 21 Dusis to wrap up the silver and Evans picked off the MyLife team mates Khumbulani Nzimande and Msawenkosi Mtolo to snatch the last space on the podium, with Nzimande pipping Mtolo to fourth in a ferocious end-sprint.
In the women’s race Christie Mackenzie, who started the final 36km stage into Durban with an eight minute lead, made life difficult for her title defence by capsizing in the full river four times, giving second placed Jordan Peek a real chance of a major upset.
“It was just a super-pressured last day, but those four swims and the headwind made the racing really honest,” she said. “Luckily I managed to keep a slight lead over Jordan Peek by the time we reached the Pumphouse Weirs, which I portaged around to stay safe. Once we were past that point and I knew it was basically flat and honest work into the finish I was comfortable I could finish it.
Peek, who was consistent throughout all three days of racing, wrapped up second, Bridgitte Hartley was third, while the evergreen Jenna Ward held off the impressive junior Saskia Hockly for fourth.
The full river and gradually building headwind made for an eventful final stage that included a number of notable race milestones.
Lyle Wheeler became the first person to complete 50 Dusis, when he finished the race with his deaf son Billy, and 80-year-old Hugh Raw completed his 10th Dusi, becoming the oldest finisher of the race, escorted home by his two sons and a grandson.
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