Birkett and Mackenzie roar back in Dusi

AFTER a slightly surprising Day One at the Dusi Canoe Marathon, which saw the men’s and women’s favourites have to settle for second, Day Two yesterday saw parity return. Consecutive five-time winner Andy Birkett caught up the 1:20 seconds over Sbonelo Khwela to finish on Inanda Dam with a massive five-minute lead.

In the women’s race, Christie Mackenzie managed to pip Day Two ahead of Day One leader Tamika Haw, but by the slenderest of margins, riding Haw’s wake across the line.

It did not take Birkett long to slice off Khwela’s lead, as by the time the two had reached the Saddles portage Birkett had almost erased the deficit with just 27 seconds separating the two. At Gauging Weir, Khwela’s lead had all but been erased and Birkett was on the charge.

“I just felt good today and got into a good rhythm nice and early,” Birkett, the eight-time Dusi champion,. “I must have caught up about 30 seconds in the first five minutes of the day. I kept on catching him through the rapids, not on the flats, which was quite surprising. The body felt good and I ran well on Nqumeni portage.”

With women’s paddling becoming more and more competitive, this year’s Dusi has been one of the most exciting of modern times with just two seconds separating Mackenzie and Haw.

It was an ongoing battle with the two swapping the lead as two swims for Mackenzie let Haw back into the contest; however Haw showed her mettle to grind back into the group with Mackenzie on the Inanda Dam stretch to finish on her tail.

1 Andy Birkett 2:58:27 5:38:25, 2 Sbonelo Khwela 3:04:48 5:43:25, 3Thulani Mbanjwa 3:09:03 5:53:15

WOMEN

1 Christie Mackenzie (U23) 3:37:38 6:59:32, 2 Tamika Haw 3:38:12 6:59:34, 3 Jenna Ward 3:44:43 7:19:23

OVERALL MEN