Wednesday 15 February 2012

Dusi Unlimited: 1 day to go

Tomorrow, Thursday, at six o'clock local time, it's the start for another edition of the Dusi Unlimited, one of the big races of river descent in the world and included in the ICF World Classic Marathon Series. Three days, three stages to cover the 118 km. from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Weirs, rapids, dams and outrageous portages make all together probably the most mythical race in South Africa. We will try to make these days our best to bring you daily information about it.

As we have said during the last few weeks, the favourites have been training very hard to get the optimal point of fitness to go for the title. Competed this year in K2, at the A batch of the start there will be couples like McGregor-Jenkins, Mbanjwa-Zondi, Birkett-Graham, Cruickshanks-Stewart, Brandon van der Walt-Cook, Rubenstein-Farrel, Kime-Mhlophe or Biggs brothers. Big names not only looking for a gold medal (prize for the top 10) but trying to set their names as the 2012 edition winners. Some of them already have done it, but for some others is has been an impossible goal to achieve yet, it doesn't matter how hard they have tried.


As seen at the seeding races and during the last two months, Hank McGregor and Len Jenkins start as the couple to beat, although Mbanjwa and Zondi have already done it at the Rietvlei Rumble and they have at their pros list the long portages, very propitious to their conditions. Last year's K1 winner, Andrew Birkett, will look for being at that leading group now with his partner Jason Graham, as they will do another young but pushing couples like van der Walt-Cook o Kime-Mhlophe. Other much more experimented boats will be on guard to seize the minimum gap amog the favourites, as those including Shaun Rubenstein (reconverted during the last years to a 200 m. paddler, but still one of the few who can say that they beated Manuel Busto in a Marathon) or Piers Cruickshanks, who at his 37 has won basically all the main races in South Africa in a K2, but the Dusi, even having been a gold medalist for ten times, still avoids him. Another question is how will react the czech couple Jezek and Kolanda, marathon world medallists, but facing a kind of race they are not very used to.


In the ladies category, after the broken hand of Hilary Pitchford, the victory will be a matter of two: the Adie sisters and the young Robyn Kime and Abbey Ulansky. However, the tricky river and the toughness of competition make the best unuseful in case of an incident who can be seized by an incoming couple to add to the two main favourites.

By now, here you have the list of the two batches with the seeded boats, both for men and women:



Men

Paddler 1 Paddler 2
MARK MULDER DAVID CHAPLIN
THULANE MBANJWA SIBONELO ZONDI
LEN JENKINS JNR HANK MCGREGOR
CRAIG TURTON JASPER MOCKE
RICHARD CELE NHLANHLAYAKHE CELE
ANDREW BIRKETT JASON GRAHAM
SHAUN RUBENSTEIN STEVE FARRELL
LANCE KIME KWANDA MHLOPHE
PIERS CRUICKSHANKS MICHAEL STEWART
BRANDON VAN DER WALT CLINTON COOK
SHAUN BIGGS BEN BIGGS
LUCAS MTHALANE MMELI CELE
MURRAY HAW JAMES SPEED
ANDREW ADIE CARL FOLSCHER
SHAUN GRIFFIN CAM SCHOEMAN
MATT TRAUTMAN KELVIN TRAUTMAN
JEFFREY SMITH WAYNE THOMPSON
GAVIN SHUTER ALEX ROBERTS
LOVEDAY MSIZI ZONDI JANDRE BEZUIDENHOUT
MURRAY STARR DONAVAN WEWEGE
ADAM NISBET LUKE NISBET
BANESTI NKHOESA SIZWE MHULO
GREG CARTER-BROWN CRAIG CARTER-BROWN
ANDREW BIRKETT PATRICK BIRKETT
MARC GERMIQUET JAYSEN GOLDING
MKHONZENI GUMEDE SHAUN MAPHANGA
MARK ESSERY DIRK VAN DEN BERG
JONATHAN NIEMANN GAVIN PAYNE
TRENTON LAMBLE STUART CLIFTON
SISEKO NTONDINI TOM NGCOBO
PIETER-WILLEM BASSON DAANTJIE MALAN
SKHUMBUSO NGIDI NKOSIKAYISE CELE (SHANGASE)
PAULOS SHOZI THEMBINKOSI NGCOBO
GLENN HILLIAR MARK MICHELL
ROGER MORTLOCK ANTHONY BAIRD
MATTHEW DEAN OWEN GANDAR
STEVEN JOHNSTON KEVIN MUSGRAVE
ROBERT CRICHTON STUART DRING
ROLAND SMITH BRANDON COLLYER
DAVE MCKENZIE CRAIG REES
TRAVIS WILSON TYLER WILSON
SIFISO VINCENT CEBEKHULU THANDO NGAMLANA
MICHAEL HAY TROY HAWORTH
NQOBILE MAKHANYA SBONISO SHOZI
SHANE MILLWARD STEVE BOTHA
IAN GLASS SHAUN BUTLER
STEPHEN STAMP DAMON STAMP
VICTOR MONYEPAO RETHABILE RATOANE
ANDREW NEAL BRUCE BRAUTESETH
ADOLF JOUBERT MARIE RENCKEN
DANIE BOTES JOHAN UBBINK
MARK USSHER MARC SNYMAN
LOUW VAN RIET KIRSTEN PENDERIS
JODY TAYLOR DUANE TAYLOR
GRAEME JOHNSTON DAVID AIKINS
PAUL HATFIELD ANDRE MORRISH
BRADLEY FISHER RYNO ARMDORF
MARK FEATHER MARK GARDEN
GUSTAV SMOOK ANDREAS VAN TONDER
MARK SMITH TRISTAN DU PISANIE
JACQUES THERON SHANE PRICE
LUKAS KASOVSKY WAYNE WILSON
MICHAEL ODVARKO ADAM JAKUB
TOMAS JEZEK MARTIN KOLANDA
THOMAS NGIDI JOHN THEMBA NGCOBO

Ladies

ABBY ADIE ALEX ADIE
ROBYN KIME ABBEY ULANSKY
DEBBIE GERMIQUET CARMEN BLAKENEY
BIANCA HAW JORDAN PEEK
BRITTANY PETERSEN KERRY SHUTER
NATALIE WOODS SUSAN CARTER-BROWN
JENNA WARD KERRY SEGAL
MANDY RAWLINS DEBBIE LEWIS
KATE ARNOTT CHARLOTTE LOVEMORE
LORNA OLIVER ANGELA SCRUBY
SASHA JARMAN MARISA PRETORIUS
ROBYN WIGGETT ROBYN HENDERSON
DIANA RIETZ NICKY TAYLOR

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