Sbonelo Zondi powered his way to the front of the field and an overnight lead of 39 seconds after day one of The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon. Photo: Anthony Grote/Gameplan Media
The 2013 The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon was set alight by the youth as Sbonelo Zondi and Robyn Kime blazed their way to stage records in the men’s and women’s races on the opening stage of the 2013 race.
After a solid yet uneventful start by Computershare Change a Life’s Zondi, he caught paddling enthusiasts around the country unawares as he flew past triple defending champ Andy Birkett and the rest of the men’s field.
And, despite a late surge from Birkett, Zondi never looked back, grabbing a valuable 20-second lead.
Zondi, having brought in some great form to this year’s class, claimed his maiden K1 first place finish and, understandably, was ecstatic with his efforts, especially having broken the stage record by 39 seconds.
“I’m very, very happy about my result. To be the first here at Number Nine (Dusi Bridge) for the first time is great,” said Zondi.
“I didn’t think about trying to break the record. I just tried to race my own race today and the record it just happened but I’m very happy about it.
“The race went the way I was planning. I started well but was a bit off the pace early on.
“The group was quite big as i was struggling towards the back of it. I didn’t panic though, I just stuck to Ant and he pulled me to the front group again.
“From there I just tried to race my own race and pace myself. I told myself there’s a long day ahead, there are long portages and the portages are one of my strengths.
“I stuck to my plan but at the top of Campbell’s (portage), Martin Dreyer told me that Andy Birkett was already one minute ahead of me. Again, I told myself not to panic and kept just trying to pace myself all the way to Guinea Fowl.
“After I caught the guys I knew it was time to go and I put the hammer down to test the guys, to see if they were still strong. I saw Andy Birkett and Lance Kime coming with me, but I didn’t think too much about the race with them at that stage, I just focused on my own plan to get to the finish.”
“To have crossed the line first is amazing and I’m so happy. There’s lots still to do tomorrow though and Andy isn’t far behind so I’ll still have work very hard.”
Having set the stage record himself in 2011, Birkett had to settle for second, himself going better than his previous best.
