Gordie Rowe (back) with partner Harry Fisher won four Dusi titles. Photo: Gameplan Media
Pietermaritzburg – When Gordon Rowe passed away in New Zealand a few weeks ago, some of the younger paddlers gearing up for The Unlimited Dusi that starts at Camps Drift on Valentine’s Day might not have realised the part the former winner had played in shaping the three-day race.
Johannesburg-based Gordon “Gordie” Rowe won the Dusi in 1959 with his partner Harry Fisher, in the days when paddlers were forced to enter in pairs and race the entire race together. They went on to win four titles in six years, breaking most of the race records in the process.
It was their 1963 win however that shook the race when they pioneered the portage over the now notorious Burma Road, on the outskirts of Durban. Racing on a low river they outsmarted Paul Chalupsky and Robbie Knudsen by running over the steep hill to set up their victory, a tactic that is used to this day by many top contenders.
Rowe moved to Durban and started the kayak manufacturing business Kayak Centre, which is still one of the market leaders in the industry.
When his competitive days were over, his passion for the race took him into administration. As an official of the Dusi, he was instrumental in the implementation of a number of checkpoints that forced the paddlers to navigate certain sections of the river.
Most notably, he changed the Dusi course to ensure the racers paddled through the confluence of the uMngeni and uMsindusi rivers, a section that includes the exciting Confluence, Washing Machine, The Cascades and The Slide rapids, previously missed by the paddlers who took a long portage now used on the Non-Stop Dusi.
Rowe’s change was the single biggest alteration to the Dusi course, lengthening it and ensuring that those that succeeded in the race were sound river paddlers instead of simply robust portagers.
Rowe was a true pioneer, and set off on numerous adventures exploring Southern African rivers, many of them paddled by him for the first time.
He is still revered by many for his brave descent of the crocodile-infested Cunene river with Willem van Riet and an early descent of the Zambezi.
Rowe relocated to New Zealand where he passed away on November 30, 2012.
