Positive paddler response after Dusi 2020

AS the dust settles on the 2020 Dusi season following the successful conclusion of the three-day Dusi Canoe Marathon and the one-day Garden City Commercials Non Stop Dusi, organisers are highlighting some important statistics that show major gains in addressing the environmental challenges facing paddling on the Dusi.

In 2019 60 per cent of the paddlers taking part in the Dusi fell ill with “Dusi Guts”, an illness resulting in upset stomachs caused by high E.coli levels in the Msundusi River.

This year that number fell to less than 17 per cent, with only 3.6 per cent noting in the annual post-race survey that their gastric problems were severe.

“That is the most encouraging result to come out of this year’s Dusi. For decades the single biggest problem facing this famous race has been the quality of the water we paddle on. Last year was a particularly bad year as we had a ‘perfect storm’ just before the race that elevated the E.coli levels, so we prioritised ways to address this issue this year.

“This was complicated in August 2019 by the Willowton spill into the Baynespruit, which had a catastrophic effect on the Msundusi and adversely affected the natural ecology’s way of controlling E.coli,” said Dusi Canoe Marathon organising committee chairman, Shane Le Breton.

“Fortunately, through the combined efforts of the Dusi Umgeni Conservation Trust (DUCT), Ground Truth and the Save Our Rivers team, we have been able to identify many of the sewer leak problems. While our weather conditions were a lot kinder this year, I think we saw the results of all this hard work, and the positive messages from the happy paddlers have been very rewarding. Our pre-race campaign to educate paddlers, and give them tips on how to manage themselves during the race seems to have worked.”

You can also sign up for news alerts on Telegram. Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5532.  

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.