Eurosteel toughens-up gold medal hopefuls for Dusi
With the Dusi canoe marathon scheduled for mid-February, Gauteng canoeists are training hard to reach their peak before the end of the month.
The Eurosteel Rumble, a two-day race of some 36km and 24km per day, on Saturday and Sunday, January 11 and 12, not only provided excellent prize money and sponsorships attracting top potential winning paddlers from out of Gauteng, but also providing superb toughening conditions for their Dusi training.
Dusi gold medal hopefuls arrived in Gauteng to claim the excellent prize money, including the 2013 winner Lance Kime, who partnered with historic and iconic Thulani Mbanjwa, while Kime’s previous partner Kwanda Mhlophe won the day with partner Zonele Nzuza. All eyes will be watching these partnerships at the major canoeing event next month.
Gauteng top paddlers enjoyed the opportunity to race against and in the wake of these awesome athletes who cruised comfortably through the tough event.
The weekend saw blistering hot weather in the northern Gauteng region where paddlers converged at the Jukskei River, to paddle from the Heron Bridge school towards Hartebeespoort Dam. With very low water levels and tough steep running sections, canoeists carried their boats in preparation for the world’s toughest canoe endurance event.
Gavin Payne is an electrical contractor in the Boksburg area where he is a member of the East Rand Kayak club based at Homestead Dam. Partnering up with Doug Jewson from Fourways area for a test run for a Dusi partnership, Payne, who was a highly competitive canoeist before a motorbike accident, wondered if he could still remember how to paddle the Jukskei River.
The pair nevertheless finished in tenth place overall, in a time of five-hours-and-seven-minutes for their first test run together; they will be looking to further improve their prowess over the remaining four weeks before the Dusi.
