The Independent on Saturday

Cally comes back to canoe

First woman over age of 60 participat­ing in Dusi race

- DUNCAN GUY

CAROLINE “Cally” Henderson has come “home” to compete in this year’s Dusi as the first woman over 60 years old.

Gauteng-based Henderson, who became a sexagenari­an yesterday – Day Two of the race – started canoeing in Pietermari­tzburg close to the start of the race.

“My flat mate’s brother told me great Dusi stories and I decided to give canoeing a shot,” she told The Independen­t on Saturday ahead of the threeday annual race, which ends today at Blue Lagoon. “I became hooked.” The sport filled the gap previously taken by sea diving during her student days at UCT.

Henderson said she had been able to keep going largely because she had no children.

“It freed me up to do lots of things. Many good women paddlers stop to have kids and they never come back to it.

That said, she notes that “there are a few now who are coming back”.

The 2017 FNB Dusi Canoe Marathon will be her 13th.

Her birthday was spent “having a great time making it through the rapids”.

Inanda Dam proved a challenge when a high wind blew for one-and-half hours, she said. “And the temperatur­es were around 36ºC.”

However, she chose not to celebrate her birthday too hard last night, saying her days of “jorling” before paddling might be over.

“I would just make it a lot harder for myself,” she said.

Back in the day, Henderson paddled her first Dusi in a single (K1) canoe in a year when rain fell right before the race and her second in a double (K2) during a drought year.

“We ran most of the first day.”

She loves the white water and the camaraderi­e of the canoe race.

“I’ve never broken a paddle but I’ve been asked – have you got a spare?

“There’s a feeling of helping others out there in the ‘boondocks’.”

Henderson belongs to the Dubulamanz­i canoe club in Joburg, which has a 1km “round and round the mulberry bush” triangle paddlers practice at Emmarentia Dam.

Over the years she has returned to KwaZulu-Natal to compete in all the big river races.

“One year I clocked 15 000km in three months.”

This year, the paddler who grew up in the Biggarsber­g, near Ladysmith, and attended St John’s School in Pietermari­tzburg, will paddle the KwaZulu-Natal waters saying and thinking her mantra “Hamba, Gogo!”

IN AN uncanny twist, the narrative of both the men’s and women’s Dusi Canoe Marathons look to have been copied and pasted from the same mind.

Both leaders have a buffer of about 20 minutes, while third-place on day one has fought back to be second, and everyone involved is dead keen on giving it a final push today.

Andy Birkett and Abby Solms are expected to be crowned champions, but the stretch of water between Inanda and Blue Lagoon doesn’t take too kindly to expectatio­ns.

Birkett said he knows only too well the perils that can come with trying to protect a lead on the final day.

“It is quite difficult to pace yourself when you are upfront, as there are no splits on the way. I convinced myself that Sbonelo (Khwela) was only two minutes behind, which was good motivation,” Birkett said of another, drama-free day.

“I was paddling scared the whole day. That can sometimes lead to mistakes when you stress too much. I did that a few years ago at Tombi and Hippo rapids, and paid a price,” he reflected.

As long as he cuts out the big mistakes, Birkett will surely add a seventh title to his growing collection. Behind him, however, there is an almighty scrap in the brewing between Hank McGregor and Sbonelo Khwela.

McGregor, living up to his Tank moniker, reeled in an ailing Khwela on the dam, gobbling up what was once a fiveminute deficit, to cross the day second at the finish line just ahead of his rival.

“I was so emotionall­y spent after going down the wrong lane on Nqomeni, so I had to go bush-whacking to get through,” he said, with typical self-deprecatio­n.

But, if he thought he was spent, the man just ahead of him was in even worse shape, after missing the refill station with his seconds.

“I lost my bottle on one of the portages, and then my seconds (support) were not where they were supposed to meet me. Maybe I was too fast for them,” he quipped.

The lack of hydration, on another steaming morning in the valley, was no joke though, and Khwela had to rely on Good Samaritans handing him some water and a bit of Lemon Twist.

“Yoh, that Lemon Twist was a life saver! I needed that sugar, and I didn’t even know who the guy was. He really saved me.

“When I got onto the dam, I was scared, looking back the whole way.”

He was right to be scared, as McGregor was on the charge. It took everything for Khwela to stay with him on the dam, and he knows that Burma Road will be his chance to get ahead again.

“I will try and kill the old man on the run up Burma,” he joked.

In the women’s race, Solms also had a near-flawless day, though there was a little scare on the Hippo rapid.

“I messed it up a little at Hippo, and went down backwards! Having this big lead is definitely comforting, but I didn’t expect it to be as much as 20 minutes,” she admitted.

The big mover in the women’s race was Bridgitte Hartley, who quickly caught up to Christie Mackenzie, and establishe­d herself in second.

“It was chalk and cheese from (day one to day two),” Hartley beamed.

With the main protagonis­ts starting the final day a little later, in order to have a grandstand finish, they all know that they will face the brunt of the heat, coupled with the monster that is Burma Road.

There is also uncertaint­y about the water level for the final day, which is why nothing is guaranteed just yet.

“If there is no water, I have already sorted my route to Durban – on foot!,” Solms joked. The motto for the final day, then, seems to be to get to Blue Lagoon in one piece – by any means necessary!

ANOTHER dose of crystal clear, flat conditions greeted paddlers on an unusual Tuesday evening for the Lettie Paddle Surfski Challenge, Race 7 of the 2017 FNB Surfski Series which saw another polished performanc­e from Hank McGregor to take his sixth win of the series and the overall series spoils.

The race was moved from its traditiona­l Friday slot due to this week’s FNB Dusi Canoe Marathon. However, hundreds of avid surfski paddlers came out to show support for the Lettie Fund, which supports those currently in a fight against cancer and rememberin­g those who have lost their battle to the disease.

Having only missed one of the opening seven races of the 10-leg series, McGregor knew what was on the line and the Euro Steel/Epic Kayaks’ star took no prisoners over the 8km course.

“The race went a lot better than last week for me and it’s great to cap off my sixth win of the series with an overall series title,” McGregor said.

“I got myself a good lead early on and just managed to build on that but I didn’t want to do too much with the Dusi starting just 48 hours after the race.

“I did just enough to get the win and really chuffed with the series win!”

The men’s race podium was rounded out by the series’ runner-up Matt Bouman, and junior Hamish Lovemore was in really good form to bag his second third place finish of the series.

The ladies series quest took another exciting twist when Euro Steel/Carbonolog­y Sport’s Hayley Nixon claimed her third win to move into a tie with Bridgitte Hartley with three wins apiece.

The flat conditions were going to test the athletes to the full at the seventh race of the series and for Nixon she was satisfied that she managed the conditions well and got another vital win.

“It was a bit unusual to come out on a Tuesday night for the race but it was another great race in some gruelling conditions.

Euro Steel’s Kyeta Purchase rounded out the ladies podium with another solid showing.

The leading double was the Capetonian pair of Dawid Mocké and Ian Black who pipped Jason Ekstrand and Sweden’s Emil Torstensso­n in second and Joseph Williams and Phillip Smith rounding out the podium.

Luke Nisbet and Jenna Ward wrapped up another mixed doubles win and an impressive third place overall finish.

Jody Taylor won the short course ahead of Chester Foster and Alan Beukes while the strongest double went to the family pair of Zoog and Ty Haynes.

Matthew Swemmer bagged a victory in the stand-up paddleboar­ding category ahead of Shayne Chipps and Brandon Read with Jackie de Billot winning the ladies SUP category.

The FNB Surfski Challenge, Race Eight of the 2017 FNB Surfski Series, takes place at Marine Surf Lifesaving Club, Addington Beach next Friday.

More informatio­n can be found at www.marineseri­es. co.za.

 ??  ?? HAMBA, GOGO: Caroline ‘Cally’ Henderson is the first woman over 60 years old to take part in a Dusi canoe race.
HAMBA, GOGO: Caroline ‘Cally’ Henderson is the first woman over 60 years old to take part in a Dusi canoe race.
 ?? PICTURES: ANTHONY GROTE/GAMEPLAN MEDIA ?? LEADER OF THE PACK: It was another flawless day for Andy Birkett as he stretched his lead to over six minutes from nearest rival Hank McGregor on the 46km second stage of the Dusi from Dusi Bridge to Msinsi Resort yesterday. INSET: Abby Solms, who...
PICTURES: ANTHONY GROTE/GAMEPLAN MEDIA LEADER OF THE PACK: It was another flawless day for Andy Birkett as he stretched his lead to over six minutes from nearest rival Hank McGregor on the 46km second stage of the Dusi from Dusi Bridge to Msinsi Resort yesterday. INSET: Abby Solms, who...
 ?? PICTURE: ANTHONY GROTE/ GAMEPLAN MEDIA ?? PADDLE POWER: A sixth win of the series has meant that Hank McGregor has won the 2017 FNB Surfski Series at the Lettie Paddle Surfski Challenge, Race 7 of the FNB Surfski Series earlier this week.
PICTURE: ANTHONY GROTE/ GAMEPLAN MEDIA PADDLE POWER: A sixth win of the series has meant that Hank McGregor has won the 2017 FNB Surfski Series at the Lettie Paddle Surfski Challenge, Race 7 of the FNB Surfski Series earlier this week.

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