Andy Birkett is sizing up a fourth consecutive victory in The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon. Photo: Chris van Lennep/Gameplan Media
Pietermaritzburg – In what is being billed as the most competitive field for a K1 title ever, the elite paddlers lining up for the start of The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon in Pietermaritzburg on Valentine’s Day will all have one eye on triple champion Andy Birkett.
The latter has entered his familiar pre-Dusi zone and is poised to become the first paddler since 1977 to win four back-to-back titles.
The happy-go-lucky 23-year-old sheds his impish demeanour at the same time as he shaves off his mop of curly hair, entering a highly focused and meticulously planned routine keeping him away from the limelight in the run up to the race, and allowing him to execute a plan that he has made his top priority of the year.
What gives his opponents even more cause for concern is the fact that Birkett has changed his training regime to allow him to cherry-pick the parts of the build-up that worked best for him in his three previous victories.
“I have looked at my past training programes and I have tried to take what I like from each year. If you stop making changes, you stop improving, and I feel like I still have room to move forward.”
The Team Best 4 Kayak Centre star is passionate about striking a balance between hard work in training and having fun on the river. “The minute it stops being fun then I will quit.”
Birkett shot to stardom with his Maritzburg College coach Jason Graham in 2010 when they outsmarted a strong field to clinch the K2 title. Graham, who is 10 years older than Birkett, defied the pundits by retaining their K2 title last year in a lopsided win over Hank McGregor and Len Jenkins.
