As he steams towards a potentially record-equalling 15th Dusi Canoe Marathon title, Dusi Icon Andy Birkett has never chased records and won’t be changing his mantra for next month’s event.
Birkett is one win shy of Dusi King Graeme Pope-Ellis’ record 15 wins and given that Birkett has won every edition of the three-day race since 2014 and all but one since 2010, his reign over the iconic event has been astonishing.
The Euro Steel star has continued to maintain his approach to the Dusi and ominously for the challengers, he’s feeling well rested going into the new season.
“I don’t know if I would call myself a Dusi legend and I’ve never tried to count the wins,” Birkett said modestly. “I’ve always said that I will be back for as long as I am enjoying it and I’m really looking forward to this year’s race.
“It’s been nice to be able to have a bit of an off season and I am just taking it one Dusi at a time and I’m grateful that I can be back at the Dusi again this year.”
After a stellar 2024 that saw Birkett represent South Africa at the Olympic Games in the sprint events, he’s been able to take some time away from paddling to gear up for a busy start to 2025.
“It was nice to be able to have two to three weeks with no paddling, I haven’t been able to do that in a long time. It has been good to have a long build up for the upcoming Drak and Dusi races and I haven’t raced in a while, so I am excited to get back into it. I’m pumped to be back in a river boat and not feel like I’m under pressure to race in a few weeks which has been a nice change,” the 34-year-old added.
With just over a month to go until the 2025 edition of the Dusi, Birkett’s training regime has been given a slight tweak.
“I usually get injured during my running training early, but I’ve taken a bit more of a conservative approach.
“Maybe I’m getting a bit older and a bit wiser,” he quipped.
“Most of the time I start out a bit too enthusiastically and run too hard too early. This year I’ve take a slower build up to this year’s Dusi. I’ve been mixing it up with a lot of cross training, but the best part is the two weeks we spend in Underberg paddling down the Umzimkhulu River every single day.
“It doesn’t feel like training to be honest; it’s more just having fun and playing in the river with the byproduct being that you get fit. I’m looking forward to racing some of the pre-Dusi races and really getting into Dusi mode as well as racing the Drak Challenge,” Birkett mentioned.
