Supplied
East London’s Andy Birkett has set a new record by winning the MyLife Dusi Canoe Marathon on Saturday, extending his number of consecutive wins to eight.
The win also saw him wrap up his 11th title.
Birkett posted a 21-minute victory margin over Hank McGregor after three days and 120 kilometres, with Under 23 ace Dave Evans finishing third.
"You just try and get into a rhythm, where you are just tripping and finding where the fast water is flowing and limit your mistakes," he said in a post-race statement.
"I felt that if I was going to point where I was feeling pretty tired then it must be a decent pace. So I tried not to tap off too much because the guys can then catch you.”
McGregor came home for his eighteenth gold medal in 21 Dusis to wrap up the silver, while Evans picked off the MyLife teammates Khumbulani Nzimande and Msawenkosi Mtolo to snatch the last space on the podium.
In the women's race Christie Mackenzie, who started the final 36km stage into Durban with an eight-minute lead, made life difficult for her title defence by capsizing in the full river four times, giving second-placed Jordan Peek a real chance of a major upset.
"It was just a super-pressured last day, but those four swims and the headwind made the racing really honest," she said.
