Stott, Dreyer win 50-Miler
8 December 2003
Ant Stott and Martin Dreyer reinforced their status as the Dusi favourites with a strong victory on the two-day Land Rover 50 Miler canoe marathon that ended in Durban on Sunday. The Cape Town-based duo hung onto a fortuitous minute-and-a-half lead after the dramatic first stage to hold off Sven and Deon Bruss.
Stott and Dreyer were locked in a fierce tussle with the Bruss brothers on the first stage, held on a medium/low Dusi River from Mission rapid to Nqumeni, in which the Bruss siblings appeared to be gaining the upper hand as they neared the finish.
However, they ran aground on some shallow rocks and damaged their kayak, leaving the door open for Stott and Dreyer to gratefully move into the lead and open up a 95-second lead. The Biggs brothers, Shaun and Jonno, were a further five minutes behind the Bruss pair overnight.
On the second stage, held on an exciting medium level Umgeni River from Inanda Dam to Blue Lagoon, Stott and
Dreyer added another fifteen seconds to their overnight lead to wrap up the title.
Alexa Lombard, and her new partner Donia Kamstra were too good for Jeannette Walder and Abbey Miedema, who could not match the winners’ flawless final stage. Grant Adie and Stuart Jardine took the juniors honours.
The race’s most talked about result came from “Dusi King” Graeme Pope-Ellis and his Joburg partner Dave Rawlinson. The Masters finished thirteenth overall, beating all the Under 21, Sub-veteran, Veteran and Sub-Master paddlers to Blue Lagoon.
The large field enjoyed the simulated Dusi conditions, but also saw plenty of drama at the back of the field. Several paddlers raced to the rescue of a man who became trapped in the back seat of his K2 kayak after it was broken and pinned against a rock below the tricky Tops Needle rapid.
The selfless rescuers managed to reach the man, who was struggling to keep his head above water, and eventually free him from his wrecked
craft.
RESULTS SUMMARY
1.Ant Stott/Martin Dreyer 4:41.26
2. Deon Bruss/Sven Bruss 4:43.22
3. Shaun Biggs/Jonno Biggs 4:54.33
4. Hank McGregor/Brett Irvine 4:57.19
5. Wayne Volek/Warren Price 4:59.28
6. Scott Maynard/Jason Graham 5:03.08
7. Daryl Bartho/Warren Jacobs 5:04.07
8. Graham Bird/Stu Rawlinson 5:05.31
9. Doug Bird/Nick Burden 5:05.36
10. Kelby Murray/Dawid Mocke 5:07.52
Women:
1. Alexa Lombard/Donia Kamstra 5:38.54
2. Jeanette Walder/Abbey Miedema 5:49.43
3. Kate March/Laura Thomson 5:54.48
Source: Canoeing South Africa
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