January 5, 2006
By SouthAfrica.info reporter
JOHANNESBURG paddlers Michael Mbanjwa and Lovemore Zondi are both eyeing podium places in the upcoming Hansa Powerade Dusi 2006 Canoe Marathon.
Mbanjwa, with canoeing partner Len Jenkins, looks like a strong contender. The two, who have been paddling together for only a few months, won the Campbell's to Dusi Bridge race in KwaZulu-Natal on 11 December.
"I can honestly say that we combined very well from the first time we got in the boat together," Mbanjwa said.
"It's almost as if we are meant to be," he added. "Come 19 January we will be ready."
The Hansa Powerade Dusi 2006 takes place from 19 to 21 January, starting at Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg and ending at the Blue Lagoon in Durban.
The Dusi is widely regarded as a pioneer of transformation in South African sport. A development programme was started in the early 1990s to promote the sport and the race in KwaZulu-Natal's Valley of a Thousand Hills. The country's first black canoeist, Robert Lambethe, started a club at Nagle Dam, and the results have been amazing.
In the 2005 race, Zondi became the first black paddler ever to finish on the podium, taking third place in the singles (K1) race; Mbanjwa placed sixth. To put this result into perspective: it was only five years previously that Mbanjwa became the first black paddler to place in the Dusi top 50.
"Robert Lambethe stopped me on the way to a game of soccer in 1997 and said that I should try canoeing," Mbanjwa says. "We used to watch paddlers in the Valley, but I never thought that I would end up doing the sport, let alone being tipped as a possible winner."
For Mbanjwa - as for Zondi - the Dusi is a "home race". He grew up in the Valley of a Thousand Hills; his home is in the shadow of Table Mountain (not to be confused with Cape Town's landmark), near the second night stop of the Dusi.
Both have been living in Joburg for several years and are both members of the Mbanjwa and Zondi are members of the Ekurhuleni Canoe Club.
"You know, I'm not a development paddler anymore," Mbanjwa says. "Those days are past. I am a black paddler that has come up through development ranks and now I really feel like I am at the top of my game. I would love to be the first black paddler ever to stand on the podium where it says number one."
Jenkins agrees. "Michael is an amazing paddler and athlete," says Jenkins. "You cannot believe his times for running with a boat - and his sprint times are better than mine now.
"We are really putting in the training now. Michael is living with me at home and we are doing three training sessions each and every day. We are watching our diet closely and taking advice from the right people. We are leaving nothing to chance this year.
"And it's not all just training," Jenkins adds. "We are having fun. I am going to stay with him and his family in their home in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in the next week and we will do some training on Michael's home soil. It also gives us a great chance to bond, to understand each other, which is so important when the pressure is on.
"I feel privileged to be paddling with Michael," Jenkins says. "There are many eyes on us. One just has to be in the valley and have a look at all the kids that are looking at Michael.
"There is a whole generation banking on our success. It's an awesome responsibility, but one that we have taken with both hands. We will be ready come 19 January."
Winning this year's Dusi is particularly important for Mbanjwa because once the Dusi is over, he will be concentrating his energies on fine-tuning his training as a sprinter for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Zondi will be teaming up with Shaun Biggs, a paddler from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, for the Dusi.
Source: The official South African portal: southafrica.info
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