Andy Birkett and Jason Graham won a sprint finish with Thulani Mbanjwa and Sbonelo Zondi this morning to claim victory in stage one of the Dusi canoe marathon in Pietermaritzburg.
The defending champions raced over the line in a time of two hours, 36 minutes and 56 seconds, edging out the ‘Dream Team’ of Mbanjwa and Zondi by three seconds.
Both of the leaders were well clear of world marathon champion paddler Hank McGregor and Len Jenkins, after they came third more than 90 seconds behind.
In the women’s race in this three-day epic, Abbey Ulansky and Robyn Kime recovered from falling out of the boat at a congested opening weir to win in just under three hours.
