Pietermaritzburg – Reigning Dusi K2 champion Sbonelo Khwela claimed the Umpetha Challenge men’s title for a second year in succession while Abby Adie went one better in the women’s race, winning it for a third year in a row, in ideal clear conditions on Sunday.
Khwela (Team EuroSteel) was pushed all the way on the water by Thulani Mbanjwa (Build It), another former Dusi champion, but used his superior portaging ability to pull clear on the three-and-a-half kilometre run in to the finish to record a convincing victory by over one-and-a-half minutes.
“It is a hard race, especially the portage,” Khwela said afterwards.
“It is long and no one has really trained for it, so I knew that we were all going to struggle on the portage. We had to use what we had to be there at the finish.”
While he looked fresh crossing the finishing line, Khwela revealed that he felt far from his best.
“Actually, I was finished. I was just pushing myself because I saw the finish was close. The excitement inside of me, knowing I was the winner, helped carry me across the line.”
Until the portage at the end, he said, it had been a tight battle.
“In the water, it was cat and mouse between me and Thulani. We were together all the way until we got to the takeout. That’s where I told myself I needed to push as hard as I could to open a gap on him.”
Adie, meanwhile, had an anxious wait to see whether or not she had won the women’s race because her ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships’ doubles partner Laura O’Donaghue had started in a later batch. In the end, though, Adie won convincingly by almost five minutes.
She was the only woman to start in the A-batch and found the going tough in the beginning, she admitted.
“I thought I would just go as hard as I could, but at the star on the Drift, it wasn’t so great. I got dropped. I was right at the back. My arms just didn’t have anything in them.
“Once I hit the river, my comfort zone, I managed to push quite hard and catch up to a few guys, so I loved the stretch on the river. That was lots of fun.”
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
MEN 1. Sbonelo Khwela 1:13:47 2. Thulani Mbanjwa 1:15:24 3. Lucas Mthalane 1:16:30 4. Mhlonishwa Hlongwane 1:16:54 5. Banesti Nkhoesa 1:18:08 6. Mthobisi Cele 1:19:43 7. Mmeli Cele 1:20:15 8. Stu Clifton 1:20:59 9. Shaun Griffin 1:21:20 10. Khumbulani Nzimande 1:22:01
WOMEN 1. Abby Adie 1:28:11 2. Laura O’Donoghue 1:33:09 3. Cana
Peek 1:35:23 4. Donna Tutton 1:43:49 5. Kate Swarbreck 1:46:06 – Sapa