The 2016 FNB Dusi Canoe Marathon is set to draw a massive field for one of the world’s largest, most revered, and toughest multi-day marathons. For Abby Solms (nee Adie), next year’s race presents a fantastic opportunity to win the one major river racing crown in South Africa that has eluded her.
Solms has been the dominant river paddler in South Africa for a number of years, and her results even include a victory in Spain’s renowned Sella Descent with Laura O’Donoghue, but a win in the Dusi, which is hosted by her club, Natal Canoe Club, has narrowly evaded her. However, speaking at the launch of the FNB sponsorship on Tuesday, Solms, a six-time runner-up, was confident she could finally claim the Dusi title she so covets.
She admitted she wasn’t in the best of form earlier in the year after getting married and taking some time out from the sport, but now she is back on track. "I am getting back to the form that I want to be in. The break was good for me," she said.
"I have come back feeling refreshed and ready to give it a go, because my year hasn't been too hectic. After [winning] the Hansa Fish Canoe Marathon, I have had a week off and now I am back into hard training. If anything, I am more motivated now because I paddled with [world champion] Anna Kožíšková (nee Adamova). Whenever I spend time with her, I learn so much and it motivates me to keep training. I am excited that she is probably going to come back [for the Dusi]."
Kožíšková had previously indicated that she would miss the Dusi to prepare for qualifying for sprints at the Rio Olympics, but that appears to have changed since she and Solms won the Fish. The Czech star has approached her coach and he is now considering holding a training camp in South Africa.
Looking ahead, Solms said: "Probably the Umpetha Challenge [the first Dusi seeding event on November 8] is next up for me. I need to find a partner first, though! And for all the races up to the Dusi. I have to find someone to paddle with. I would like to race those races, but I need to find someone that is free that doesn't have a partner here.
"My sister is paddling with Tamika Haw, and she is in Durban and my sister in Cape Town, so it is possible that I could pair up with her or something like that."
There would be ample time to prepare for the Dusi with K1 marathon world champion Kožíšková, she added. "Anna will come out at least a month before the Dusi, so there would be enough time for us to work on our combination. At the previous Fish [in 2013], we jumped in a boat two days before the event. She's so solid, so it was fine. But, when I look back now, this year was so much better than last time, but that's because her confidence in river paddling has grown."
The Dusi presents a unique challenge, one which defending K2 champion, Sbonelo Khwela, described as a duathlon on Wednesday, with paddling and running being equally important components of what is required for victory.
"We have done Dusi together," Solms said of her partnership with Kožíšková. "She knows what is required of her. She knows all about it. I am not really that stressed. She is never going to come out here not in shape. After all, she does sit behind me, so it is up to me to do my homework [on the river and its conditions]. She just follows. As she said, she just looks at the back of my head and that's what she focuses on. There is no one stronger, so it does work."
In 2014, in the previous K2 Dusi, Adie and Kožíšková had a difficult race, with the Czech suffering a serious knee injury that required stitches, and with the pair also suffering a broken paddle. Yet they were in the running for victory right up to the finishing line.
"Anna fights right up until the end. At Pumphouse Weir [about 14 kilometres from the finish], we were seven minutes behind and we ended up less than a minute behind Abbey Ulansky and Robyn Kime. With her, it's never say die. Hopefully we will have a smoother race in 2016.
Solms said she hopes to see the champions back to defend their title because it would mean more to win if it included beating Ulansky and Kime.
"I've got the experience now - and so do they - but I'm stronger as a paddler and a runner. The last K2 race was the first time that I had trained properly for it. Compared to them, I was always undertrained and underprepared. I know now what is required," she concluded.
If Solms were to take victory in the Dusi, her partner Anna Kožíšková would also become the first foreign winner of the Dusi.
Photo: Kayak Centre’s Abby Solms (front) and Anna Kožíšková (back) were in sublime form as they successfully defended their Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon title earlier this month. (Photo: Jetline ActionPhoto/Gameplan Media)
