Monday, 14 February 2011 12:05
Adie vs Kime at Dusi
With a fascinating showdown looming between the two best female river racers in the country Robyn Kime and Abby Adie, The Unlimited Dusi women's title will go to the paddler who makes the fewest mistakes.
Both Kime and Adie bring almost matching pedigrees coming into the race, and will start as clear favourites to thrash out the 2011 title holder between themselves.
Both recent products of the prolific Epworth schools canoeing programme, both are in superb form, both on the water and running with the boat.
With river conditions likely to be comfortably medium-level for most of the race, and with no major rains forecast for the week, it seems extremely unlikely that the women's race will be skewed in favour of the wild water lovers like Hillary Pitchford.
It provides canoeing fans with a captivating tussle between the two women looking to become the next dominant force in The Unlimited Dusi since the departure of Abbey Ulansky (Miedema) to Canada.
In the cold light of statistical analysis they measure up almost equally. However the key ingredient in winning the Dusi tends to lie in preparation and the ability to keep a cool head in the heat of the battle, and the February humidity that is sure to ambush the paddlers later this week.
"I would definitely say the person who makes the least mistakes will end up winning," said Kime, who partnered Ulansky to a K2 Dusi victory last year.
Kime is anxious not to inhibit her naturally adventurous approach to river racing, which has in the past led to swims that have cost her major titles. "I just go out there to enjoy the race," said Kime. "Obviously I want to win but I don’t want to become over-cautious to the extent that it takes the fun out of the race."
"A couple of the girls take out at some of the bigger obstacles but I’m in a quite a stable boat this year so hopefully this will help and it’s not too much of a train smash if you do take a swim just so long as you recover from it as best you can," she added.
"It’s obviously frustrating when you do fall out but you’ve got to try put this aside and focus on getting back into the boat as quickly as possible and minimising the damage," said Kime.
She has also been doing her homework on the course, in between returning to her studied at Stellenbosch University, in a bid to try and avoid the nightmare in the 2009 K1 race that saw her snarled in moving hyacinth ten kilometres from the finish, surrendering her second place to Abby Adie.
"I had a look at Campbell's Farm and one or two other sections over the weekend and I’ve worked hard so I definitely think I’m ready," she said firmly.
Abby Adie is taking a slightly more analytical approach, trying to eliminate risk wherever possible.
"I feel it’s a combination of the girl who is the strongest and who makes the fewest mistakes who will take the title this year," says Adie. "If you make mistakes you make it very difficult for yourself no matter how strong you are."
Adie has a track record of clinical execution in the technically demanding rapids, which she puts down to patience. "I’ll just look to go carefully through the rapids and not rush things too much."
"If you do make a mistake then you can’t afford to dwell on it and think about what you did wrong," said Adie. "No one’s going to have a perfect Dusi and if you make a mistake you can't afford to lose hope. It’s a three day race and anything can happen."
"All the races leading up to Dusi have gone really well for me and I don’t think I could have done anything more. I feel I’m ready and have prepared really well," she added.
The Unlimited Dusi starts on Pietermaritzburg on 17 February and ends in Durban on 19 February.
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