Wednesday, 25 January 2012 16:40
Three powerful crews enter Dusi
Three powerful crews from the Czech Republic have entered The Unlimited Dusi canoe marathon, fronted by two K2 crews with medals at the world marathon championships and plenty of experience in tough river marathons.
The team is spearheaded by the powerful crew of Michal Odvarko and Jakub Adam, who won the bronze medal at the world marathon championships in Singapore last year, repeating their feat of the 2010 world marathon champs in Spain.
The pair from Prague also won the Krumlov marathon last year, which is part of the International Canoe Federation’s new World Series. For Odvarko it was his fourth win in this prestigious Czech Republic marathon.
Recently they finished sixth in the legendary Sella Descent in Spain, and also finished eighth in the Ardeche Marathon in France, proving that they have what it takes in rough water river marathons.
The K2 crew of Thomas Jezek and Martin Kolanda are also former world marathon championship medallists, having separately bagged silver medals in the K1 races, Jezek in Tyn nad Vltavou in 2008 and Kolanda at the championships in Stockton on Tees in England.
The third paddler in the Czech party is Luká¹ Kusovský, who has elected to race his first Dusi in a K1, despite the fact that The Unlimited Dusi 2012 is a K2 championship event. The 21 year old is a key member of the Czech sprint squad, where he podiumed at the junior world championships in Russia, and is now specializing in 200m sprint races.
The Czech entry to The Unlimited Dusi comes hot on the heels of the highly successful campaign of the classy K2 crew of Tomas Slovak and Robert Knebel at the 2011 Hansa Fish, where they raced into sixth place after two days of flawless racing in October.
The Unlimited Dusi canoe marathon from Camps Drift, Pietermaritzburg to Blue Lagoon, Durban takes place on 16-18 February 2012. More info can be found at www.dusi.co.za
Add comment
