Durban – Andy Birkett, looking increasingly like the Samson of the Rapids with his dirty blonde mane, smashed records this week as he cantered to his second Dusi Canoe Marathon singles title, and his fifth overall.
Yesterday’s finish at Blue Lagoon was devoid of the drama of his first singles win in 2011 when he pipped Ant Stott in a mad dash for the line, but the clinical manner made it just as sweet.
“I don’t know if I could ever do what happened in 2011 again because that finish with Ant was just unbelievable,” the 24-year-old recalled.
“But when you consider that this wasn’t the ideal build-up to the race, this one is also very special. To win day one was the key, and then to go through the rest of the race with no real issues, that was very pleasing.”
At times, Birkett’s brutal efficiency sucked the drama out of the race as he blazed ahead of the chasers, led by 2013 winner Lance Kime and the relentless Sbonelo Khwela. Try as they might, they could never recover the buffer the brilliant blonde had built up.
In the women’s race, mom of two Laura O’Donoghue completed her own wire-to-wire victory to sign off her Dusi career in fairy-tale fashion.
“I would say it is my proudest moment in paddling. It has been a really big sacrifice from my family, and I have had a lot of support from the Natal Canoe Club, so this is really special,” she beamed.
“The kids are getting big now, so they will be the priority. Even though I will paddle next year, it will be at the back of the field,” she explained.
In the men’s scrap, Birkett started with a lead of over five minutes on Kime and though he didn’t put the proverbial hammer down as emphatically as he had on the opening day, he never let that advantage slip, becoming the first man to dip below the eight-hour mark for three days over 120km.
When he trekked over the notorious Burma Road portage, where Dusi dreams go to die, he knew the hardest part was over.
By the time he made his way into Durban, Birkett could enjoy the view and the atmosphere that is afforded by the reverse order, with the elite paddlers welcomed by a merry mob on the bank.
“I love that late start. You get to paddle with some of the guys at the back, and it was nice to have a quick chat with them on the way past. That is what makes the Dusi special,” he grinned.
It is a measure of their quality that the leading trio featured among the singles or doubles winners in each of the last six years.
Birkett, with five wins already, is hungry for yet more success. He is also more than happy to joust on an annual basis with Kime and Khwela, which is a treat for followers of this annual epic.
“Sbonelo is 27, so he says he is the ballie among us,” Birkett chirped as the EuroSteel triumvirate sat and joked, minutes after trying their darndest to best each other.
“I know we will keep pushing each other for years to come, and I want to continue paddling Dusi for as long as I can,” he added.
There are other challenges on the horizon for Birkett, who wants to add a senior medal to the under-23 world title he won on the flat-water. Happily, he has an ideal training partner in girlfriend and Olympic medallist Bridgitte Hartley, who was again with him throughout this race.
“I want to give that a really good go this year, and after a week off here, I will start the preparation for that,” Birkett resolved.
On current paddling form, he will take some stopping, even on the world stage.
Indeed, his biggest issue this week was keeping his Rastafarian mop out of his eyes, a ponytail eventually doing the job.
“It’s not getting cut anytime soon,” he maintained as Hartley rolled her eyes.
And, as long as he keeps dominating in the manner he did this week, few would argue with “Samson”.