Ant Stott aims for top
form for Drak Challenge
Underberg - Dusi champ Ant Stott
has set his sights on a slice of canoeing history by winning an
unprecedented sixth Drakensberg Challenge title in Underberg on 21 and 22
February.
“The timing should be good for me. Obviously I took a break after the Dusi,
and I should be able to get back to good form for the Drak Challenge,” said
Stott, who unashamedly admits that his principal focus is on this year is
the world marathon championships in September.
Stott is anticipating a highly competitive Drak Challenge, as there is a
very competitive men’s field assembling for the race. “Hank McGregor will be
very good, and I hear Grant van der Walt is going very well,” said Stott.
“It will be great if Len Jenkins is there in good shape, and I also hear
that Dawid Mocke and a whole bunch of Cape paddlers are coming as well.”
“Watch Mike Arthur,” warns Stott. “He is just getting better and better, and
he did a lot of his Dusi training up in Underberg.”
Stott hit the proverbial wall after his Dusi triumph in January, falling ill
as he came of his training peak. However he has recovered and is focusing
his energies on adding another Drak title to go with his victories in 1999,
2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005.
He is part of the prestigious Drak Trout club of paddlers that have
completed ten of these famous races, with three other top-five finishes to
go with his five victories. The only time that he has finished outside the
top ten was his 18th place finish in 1995.
But those results hides his debut in the legendary flood conditions in 1994,
when he was one of the hundreds of casualties that failed to finish. “I
trashed my rudder in Black Murray rapid on the first day,” he recalls. “It
was really big and I thought the rudder damage was a good enough excuse to
call it quits!”
He is diligent in his training and spends many hours on the river ahead of
the Drakensberg Challenge, tripping the river at every possible water level,
to ensure that he is well prepared for the race and the water levels that
can fluctuate wildly as rains fall in the Southern Drakensberg catchment
area.
“For pure pleasure, I would love it to be full this year, but it does suit
me from a competitive point of view if the Umzimkulu is low,” said Stott.
The popular 32 year old Stott, who won his fourth Dusi title a few weeks
ago, a few months after winning last year’s marathon world championship K2
title with Cam Schoeman, has been the dominant character in the fifteen year
history of the Drakensberg Challenge.
“I love this race, and, I have to admit I also love winning,” said Stott
reflecting on his association with the Drak Challenge. “The Underberg area
and the Umzimkulu river has been a very special place to our family, as my
grandparents had a farm close to the Trout Hatcheries, and I still love
spending time there.”
It was on that section of river that a young Ant Stott first experienced a
canoe race, while he and a group of family friends were out tubing on the
Umzimkulu river.
“The paddlers came past us, and it made a big impression on me,” recalls
Stott. “Oscar Chalupsky was a paddler that my dad recognised and when he
called out to him, Oscar tossed his cap to him.”
While Stott has been more
successful than any other paddler on this race, he has also had his fair
share of scares on the river. Last year he lost contact with his boat during
a training paddle, and it was swept through Black Murray rapid. “We chased
it running along the bank for about four kilometres,” says Stott. “It all
just teaches you to respect the river.”
The Drakensberg Challenge takes place in
Underberg on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 February. More information can be
found at
www.drak.co.za
ENDS
