The 75th Dusi Canoe Marathon promised to be one for the history books with the prerace events suggesting that we would either see the first black K2 crew take a win or that the Popes incredible record of 15 wins would be broken. And being the Dusi, it also promised that there would be many memories made along with some heroic war stories and a few tales of woe.
For 2026 the paddlers were dished up hot and dry conditions on the Thursday and Friday, with a medium to low river, and then there was a massive storm on the Friday night making the likes of Big John look chocolate brown as the tributaries filled up the river below the dam for day 3. From Dabs we had 11 doubles and 2 singles, while SCARC had 4 doubles crews and then we also had 2 Dabs/SCARC crews, and for a while it seemed that some of our guys wanted to win the wooden spoon. Kevin and Raoul had a very long day 1 but both are strong willed and they finished just inside the top 200. Raoul is now a Rat while Kevin has 35 to his name. U18’s Alulutho Tyenge & Sicelo Blaai were in the top 50 after day 1 but Sicelo dislocated his shoulder in day 2, so they had a very long day to get to the end of the dam; then Alulutho put a petrol saver over the back cockpit and finished day 3 on his own. Epic stuff!
Piero & Michael also had a very long day 2. “We wrapped above washing machine. Fiber glassed at gauging weir. It held until big bend. Then fiber glassed again just before the dam. Lots of haaaat mixes.” And finish they did; albeit in a different boat. Levick & Hardi had a good 3 days, but with more than their fair share of broken paddles and swims. Mo had 3 clean days with no swims – he’s learnt that a stable boat makes a major difference, but the Dusi reminded him of the need to train. Kevin & Daryn were beaten home by Bob & Kirsty, who were behind by Ryno & Gillian; while Nosipho & Lesedi were ahead of them. Daniel and Leon were in the middle of the mix while chief Nkosi, who paddled with a mate from KZN, finished his 20th Dusi.
Up towards the front end Benji & Troy were the first Sub Grand Masters, Ethan & Sikhanyisele made the top 50 as did Garden & Sibusiso. U18’s Nhlamulo & Sbusiso did really well to make the top 30 one place ahead of new Dusi Rat Wongama & Chazani while Rob & Marco were 16th overall – just beating the first ladies. As the first masters Piers & Jacques had an incredible race to finish 11th overall while Siseko & Benji moved up the field on day 3 to finish in a fine 5th place. SCARC also won first Club home on Dusi 2026. Well done to all our Dusi champs. There were of course some sad stories in the form of DNF’s and a DNS – sorry guys – better luck next year…
At the sharp end there was a real cat and mouse race between Khwela & Mtolo and Birkett & Fenn for the first half of the race. At the end of day 1 it was anyone’s to take – as it was until the dam on day two – after which Andy & Matt had a 6 minute lead. As Sbonelo said, “The elastic snapped and it was game over.” Birkett & Fenn made no mistakes on day 3, and history was written with Andy taking 16 wins – incredible. The top 3 men in 2026 were then a carbon copy of 2024 with Khwela & Msawenkosi Mtolo in second place followed by Ntinga & Sandile Mtolo in third place. Two U18 crews made the top 10, while 6.5 crews were black – and we wait to see who will be the first black crew (or K1) to win the Dusi.
The ladies race, which also boiled down to a cat and mouse race between just two boats was far more exciting, as this one lasted all 3 days. 4 times winner Abby Solms partnered with Robyn Groenink who was doing only her second Dusi while 4 times winner Christie McKenzie partnered with Sakia Hockly who was also doing her second Dusi, but on paper Mackenzie and Hockly had the advantage of all their marathon experience. After day 1 Solms & Groenik had almost a 3 minute lead but by the end of day two there was just one second between them, making day 3 incredibly exciting and challenging for both crews. Christie & Saskia took the chicken run down Little John, while Abby & Robyn appeared more confident and went down the big stuff, but then swam before Island, then Christie & Saskia spun out letting Abby & Robyn get ahead before they swam at Island so Christie & Saskia had a gap and portaged Pump House meaning that Abby & Robyn caught up again, but in the end, on the flat water into Durban, Christie & Saskia were too strong and won by just over a minute. Fantastic racing. The U23 pair of Amy Hulett & Sarah Jones joined them on the podium for third place. Other heroes included Mike Adams, Attie Visser and Phillip van Niekerk who completed their 40th Dusi’s while Lyle Wheeler completed his 54th. Mad men; but it’s guys like these who help keep this iconic event alive. And mad women – Lorna Oliver is now on 38 or 39 Dusi’s.
Well done and thanks to Brad Glasspoole and his team on pulling off a fine 75th edition of the Dusi. Thanks to the sponsors EuroSteel, Hansa & Umgeni Water and well done to KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Sports, Arts and Culture for committing R200 000 in prize money to this year’s race. Well done and thank you to MegaLive for the coverage of all 3 days on YouTube. As one of our exiled members (Alex probably had tears of FOMO in his eyes) said: “Excellent coverage. Hopefully this encourages more people to test themselves against the mighty Dusi.”
Sadly the numbers slipped to a new low of 208 finishers so you might want to give it a go while you can. If you have never done a Dusi, then you really should plan to, and if you have but have stayed away, then plan to go back – it’s the Comrades of river paddling, not just because it’s between Maritzburg and Durban, but because it’s an epic event and an amazing experience. Just ask this year’s novices like Gillian, Michael and Hardi – they’ll tell it’s a must do.
Till next time – Go Dabs!