Stott shakes off foot injury in time for Dusi 2011

Wednesday, 02 February 2011 15:20

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Stott shrugs off foot injury ahead of The Unlimited Dusi

Durban - Defending champion Ant Stott has shaken off his foot injury and set his sights on a rare hat-trick of K1 victories in The Unlimited Dusi that starts in Pietermaritzburg on 17 January.

The 32 year-old, who has won the famous three day race twice in a single and twice in a double, was hamstrung by a painful foot injury in January that interfered with his running training. But the likeable athlete views the injury not as a setback but as an unexpected bonus as he tries to juggle the demands of working full-time and his paddling career.

"If there is such a thing, then the foot injury was a positive injury," says Stott. "It forced me to rest, which looking back was a good thing. The injury was from overuse, and rest was what I needed then."

In many ways, it will be a very different Ant Stott that lines up for his 17th Dusi at Camps Drift in a fortnight's time. Critically, he is enjoying his paddling, and more importantly, the racing and training is pain-free.

"I have really battled with discomfort and pain in recent times, and it has affected my performance and how much I enjoy my paddling," says Stott. "This year however I have been seeing a chiropractor twice a week and it has made an unbelievable difference. The pain is gone and I genuinely feel like I am enjoying my paddling more."

Stott has also left behind the luxury of being a full-time paddler, and now has to arrange training sessions before and after his office hours. Again, the rejuvenated Stott feels this has played into his hands.

"It has forced me to be cleverer about my training," says Stott. "I have also been doing less gym since I started working, which has left me feeling good, and efficient going into the race. I am around 4kgs lighter than I was when I won in 2009, and feeling good about that."

"I honestly thought my paddling days were numbered," admits Stott. "However since I started working and having sorted out my pain issues I feel completely differently, and I don't see any end in sight."

Stott plans to team up with another seasoned racer Graeme Solomon for a shot at the World Marathon Championships gold medal later in the year. The duo combine mercurially and, barring a repeat of the mishaps that have dogged them in recent times, they genuinely believe that they can beat the best in the world.

Stott is a cool, composed Dusi racer, who can fall back on decades of meticulous research on the Umsindusi and Umgeni rivers. He is excited about the new date for the race, which has effectively moved a full month later in the year.

"It may bring us extra water, which will be great, and it allows all the paddlers an extra month to train in the summer," says Stott. "It has also suited me down to the ground, because I was able to use my Christmas holidays to get into my training, and to chill out, which one never used to when the race was in mid-January."

Stott is also not fussed by limitations on his time training in the valley, as he knows the rapids and paths well from years of tripping and training. "To be really useful you have to train in the valley when there is water similar to the race level in the river."

"I am confident that it will just take a few refresher paddles on the river before the race," he added.

Stott also knows that a race like The Unlimited Dusi tends to select its winners carefully, and any one of at least five paddlers could claim the title this year.

"It would be arrogant for me to start the race thinking that I am going to win it again," said Stott. "I will race it to win, but will be happy to make it onto the podium."

He singles out Hank McGregor and Len Jenkins as the evergreen threats, but if the river is low and the portages become even more important, then he fancies Michael Mbanjwa for the title. "Absolutely no-one can run with a boat like "Bungee", and I saw in a race in Gauteng last weekend that he is in superb form."

Stott also has Andrew Birkett, winner of the K2 title last year with Jason Graham, factored into the frame. "Andrew has a great racing head on him," says Stott. "He is probably hungrier than anyone else, and from what I have seen, he is doing it all right."

Stott raced his first Dusi as a junior in 1993, and went on to win the K2 title with Kelby Murray in 1998, a feat he repeated with the Dusi Duke Martin Dreyer, before going on to claim the K1 crown in 2007 and 2009.

More information can be found at www.dusi.co.za

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