Birkett and Mackenzie to lead Dusi challenge

After months of unprecedented rains throughout KwaZulu-Natal and along the Msunduzi and Umgeni rivers, the 2022 Mylife Dusi Canoe Marathon is set to live up to its reputation as the country’s premier canoe marathon from Thursday to Saturday this week.

After much of the pre-race hype surrounding the water quality and levels, organisers have put paddlers’ minds at ease, saying the race will go ahead as usual — and that it’s going to be one for the history books.

This year more than 770 paddlers will take the 120km route from Pietermaritzburg to Durban hoping to finish the most iconic canoeing race in SA over the three days.

In both the men’s and women’s sections, there are going to be intense battles, with a number of crews fighting it out for the overall titles.

East London-based Andy Birkett will once again wear the favourites tag. He is paddling with under-23 star David Evans, and the Stellenbosch-based accounting student could be the sixth partner to win the Dusi with Birkett.

Birkett’s eight consecutive Dusi wins stand as the record of back-to-back wins, and with the services of his Euro Steel teammate Evans behind him, there is little doubt they are the overwhelming favourites for the title.

Out to break the Birkett dominance is the Team MyLife pair of Thulani Mbanjwa and Msawenkosi Mtolo. The duo has been in good form throughout the build-up to 2022’s race and will provide Birkett and Evans with a stern test.

Mbanjwa was part of the previous K2 crew to win the Dusi that didn’t include Birkett when he triumphed in 2008 with Martin Dreyer. It would be 14 years between wins for Mbanjwa should he and Mtolo win.

Also among the contenders are the Euro Steel teams of Sbonelo Khwela and Nqobile Makhanya and Hank McGregor and Matt Millward.

Khwela won the Dusi in 2014 with Birkett and has been one of the race’s most consistent performers, with 10 podium finishes in the past 13 editions of the race.

He and Makhanya launched themselves into the Dusi frame after their impressive win at the recent Parklane Spar Campbell’s to Dusi Bridge race.

McGregor and Millward will also be serious podium contenders given their strong build-up to the 2022 race. The youth and experience mix will be a strength as Millward chases his first Dusi podium finish.

The women’s race has two leading potential winners. With three Dusi titles among them, including being the back-to-back K1 champion, Euro Steel’s Christie Mackenzie and Jordan Peek seem to be the favourites to take home the title, but the race could be a repeat of 2019’s K1 end sprint.

Team MyLife’s Abby Solms and Bianca Haw are also previous  winners, which gives an indication of how tight this race could be.

Solms showed she’s in fine form when she won the recent N3TC Drak Challenge and Haw is a multiple age-group champion at the Dusi, which proves their pedigrees and that the margin for error in the women’s race will be minuscule.

Fighting it out for the other spot on the podium will be another Team MyLife pair, Bridgitte Hartley and Pippa McGregor, while the experience of Hillary Bruss and Hayley Nixon will also be in the mix.

There’s expected to be another significant influx of overseas paddlers. Danish marathon paddler Martin Friedrichsen is teaming up with Trenton Lamble, while Spanish river marathon ace Kiko Vega is taking on the challenge with Wayne Jacobs.

Another Danish paddler, Susan Lützner, returns again to race with Loveday Zondi and respected French canoeists Eric Lelievre and Yann Robert are also racing.