Tuesday, 11 January 2011 15:34
Stott's injury could be blessing in disguise
Six times champ of the Global Trader Drak Challenge canoe marathon Ant Stott is struggling with a foot injury, but the popular icon of the race says the set-back might be a blessing in disguise.
Stott, who is targeting the Unlimited Dusi title at the end of February, injured his foot during the strenuous running training that the Dusi demands. While he is hampered in his cross-country training by the injury, Stott sees some clear positives in a calendar that has been complicated by some significant changes.
"With the GT Drak now coming before the Dusi, it has left most of the top paddlers in a bit of a quandary," says Stott. "To do well in the Dusi you need to do a lot of training running with the boat. But for the GT Drak there is no portaging at all, and the demands of the race are quite different."
"My foot injury might just have come at the right time," said Stott. "The GT Drak is an important race, but it comes at a time when a lot of paddlers will be at the hardest phase of their Dusi training, so maybe the injury will force me to rest a bit more than I otherwise would have."
Stott is widely regarded as the "King of the Drak" for his string of six victories going back to 1999, and has won the race at just about every river level imaginable. The 34 year old paddler has moved away from a full-time professional paddler lifestyle to trying to juggle his elite paddling with a full-time job.
Stott hit global headlines when he won the world K2 marathon championship title with Cam Schoeman in 2008 and medalled in the K1 year after that.
"It's going to be a very different year for me this year," said Stott. "I still have a few top years left in me, and I might prioritise some races in Spain and the world marathon champs again."
Stott makes no bones about his passion for the GT Drak Challenge. "I basically learnt my paddling on the Umzimkulu. The water is clean, the rapid are brilliant and there is a great relaxed vibe about the race, even though it is highly competitive," says Stott.
From his first race as a junior in 1995 when he placed 18th, Stott has been a regular participant in the GT Drak, having completed 12 races, ranking him tenth on the list of all-time finishers, and one of the race's "Drak Trouts" for having successfully completed ten editions of the race.
The Global Trader Drak Challenge takes place in Underberg on 22 and 23 January.
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