Amanzimtoti downwind racer keen to get back into the water

Long-time Amanzimtoti Watersports Club member, Dean Chiazzari, 30, cannot wait for the lockdown to end to dip his paddles again. He was fortunate to have his training squad race at the KZN sprint champs at Shongweni Dam on 14 March, just before the lockdown, where they managed some fantastic results. “I sprinted for the first time in years and managed a fifth place in the K1 200m.”

He has been paddling and a member of the club for about 20 years. “I can’t really remember what made you get into it. My dad Mike used to paddle and we got into it through him. We were some of the first guppies in SA.

“There are many different facets to the sport, with different aspects to each facet. When I was younger, our training squad’s main focus was sprints. This was fast, intense racing, similar to track and field events. This was the most enjoyable when I was at my peak, as your result represents how much work you put in before. Months of training go into four or five races on the day. My tour as part of the SA U16 sprint squad to Germany in 2006 was the peak of this period in my life.

“As I got a bit older and had the influence of the social scene at university, I focused more on the fun side of paddling. We did many river races around the country, which has a massive social element to them. Now, I find my passion in the ocean with downwind open racing – there is little that compares to the exhilaration and excitement of a massive downwind paddle!”

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Dean was born in Toti and is an old boy of Athlone Park Primary and Amanzimtoti High School. During his school days he enjoyed hockey, rugby, canoeing, lifesaving and spearfishing, made KZN teams for the last three and SA for canoeing.

He is one to watch individually, as well as in K2 and K4 races, although the K4 series has died out recently. There have been countless podium finishes in his many years of paddling, but his most memorable races are an U18 K2 SA marathon win in Plett with Stuart Hogg – “Toughest marathon race I have ever paddled!”; a fourth place in the U18 K2 Breede Marathon with Stuart – “Toughest river race I have ever done!”; second at the U18 S1 (single ski) SA lifesaving champs – “I fell off my ski at the start!”; and the senior men’s craft rescue at SA lifesaving champs, where they are the reigning champs to date.

“At this point in my life, any major open ocean downwind race is my favourite. Downwind ski racing is a unique mixture of all the facets of paddling – marathon, sprint and lifesaving. You need to have the sprint strength and fitness to get your boat on the runs, but the marathon endurance to finish a 30km race, and the lifesaving knowledge to survive.”

Dean is married to Kaylin and they are getting ready to welcome their first-born into the world in September. Besides being a member of the watersports club, he is also part of Warnadoone Surf Lifesaving Club, Amanzimtoti Ski Boat Club and the South African Underwater Fishing Federation.

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“I train at the watersports club, which has relocated to the Illovo River. I think it was a good idea for the club to move from the Toti River, as there were various environmental issues, such as hyacinth and inconsitent water levels, which were hindering our ability to train consistently. I am a keen fisherman and spearfisherman. I also design and build timber furniture and jewellery, and have meddled in knife making. For fun, I am always looking for clean water to go spearfishing, or big wind for a downwind paddle.

“I am an architect and own my own company. I have had limited capability to work during the lockdown, but been able to finish up some work on my table. I have also been constructing a granny flat and extensions to my house, which has not been an easy feat working alone! The manual labour helps to take the edge away, but I am ready to get out there on the water again.”

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