Competitive crews eyeing podium places at the Dusi Canoe Marathon from 25 to 27 February can look forward to the biggest prize pool in South African canoeing once again and a brand new incentive that will reward an exceptional result by the winning womenโs crew.
The winning male and female K2 crews will once again receive the same prize of R25 000, but now the new incentive that will run as a new thread through the racing will offer a R45 000 bonus based on the relative finish of the womenโs race winners.
โThe performance of the winning womenโs K2 is always assessed as a percentage of the winning menโs K2 crewโs time,โ explained Dusi race committee head Shane le Breton. โBased on the last ten yearโs results, the winning womenโs boat has finished at 116% of the winning menโs boat.
โThe new incentive will be given to the winning womenโs K2 if they finished in a time that is less than 114% of the overall winner. If it is 114% or rounded down to that percentage point it will be shared. If the womenโs winners are 115% of more behind the overall winner, then the menโs K2 will get the incentive,โ he explained.
โWe are excited to have womenโs river paddling very well supported and highly competitive at the moment, and together with the equal prize money, we feel that this new race-within-a-race will draw further attention to the strength of womenโs paddling at the moment,โ he explained.
Last year the thrilling showdown between Christie Mackenzie and Tamika Haw for the Dusi womenโs K1 title came down to a sprint finish into the race finish at Blue Lagoon, and was undoubtedly the highlight of the 2019 edition of the race.
That finish was savoured by a massive crowd at Blue Lagoon, thanks to a novel staggering of the reversed order start designed to ensure that the womenโs winners arrived at the finish shortly after the first few menโs boats.
โI think this new incentive is a great step forward from a racing point of view,โ said surfski world champ and respected athletes representative Hayley Nixon. “We’ve seem similar approaches adopted in surfski races over the past few years.
“What it means is that there is no room for either the male or female leading crew to back off because you may well be winning your gender fight but you don’t want to lose to the other gender.
โIn the past we took for granted that the men would, by virtue of testosterone and physical capability, finish first and take the overall prize but now there is an opportunity for male and female to race each other.
“It’s a magic incentive, it’s really fair for all, it screams out equality and that’s what we want to see in our sport.”