Inanda dam - Sbonelo Zondi's fairytale continued on the second day of The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon 2013 as he bagged a second stage win, and takes a one minute lead into the final stage after a day that saw the leaderboard undergo a dramatic shake-up. In the women's race Robyn Kime bounced back from a scare at Hippo Rocks to smash her own stage record.

The race lead changed hands no less than four times on a day of tense racing on a very full uMngeni river, with the defending champion Andy Birkett tumbling down to fourth after a dramatic accident midway through the stage.

Zondi, a product of the Computaform Change a Life Academy, remained calm throughout, despite seeing his twenty second overnight lead disintegrate in front of him within the first two kilometres, before catching back up only to then lose his lead again to Birkett at Gauging Weir, and then regained his position at the front when Birkett was forced to stop at the Marianni Foley causeway to replace his rudder.

Birkett then suffered a potentially race-ending mishap at the notorious Thombi Rapid where a nasty swim and then further rudder wheel trouble cost him vital minutes, allowing Team Best 4 Kayak Centre team mate Lance Kime through into second whilst Hank McGregor, who started the day fifth behind Thulani Mbanjwa also passed Birkett for third.

"I’m obviously very happy with my result from today," said Zondi. “Andy (Birkett) started just behind me and caught me not long after the start but I just tried to stay calm and keep going.”

“Andy was opening a gap at Gauging Weir but when I saw him change his rudder I knew I had to go for it and I put the hammer down all the way to the finish.”

“Thombi (Rapid) was very big and I came close to falling out but managed to hang on and just kept going.”

“Tomorrow is going to be a very big day and I will try my best to try keep my gap over Lance Kime,” he added.

Having been gifted an opportunity by Birkett shortly after the confluence of the uMsundusi and uMngeni Rivers and with renewed energy and motivation Kime set about closing the gap between himself and race leader Zondi as best he could before the day two finish line at Inanda Dam.

As he headed under the bridge at the headwaters of the dam Kime started his grind some two minutes back and a spirited effort from the under 23 youngster saw slowly reeling in a tiring Zondi, eventually finishing a little over a minute behind and with plenty to play for in what promises to be an enthralling third and final day.

“When I set off at the start today I really didn’t think I would catch Andy. He just doesn’t make mistakes,” said Kime. “So, when I came through Thombi and saw Andy swimming, I had a jolt of excitement and its always easier to push hard when you know there’s only one person ahead of you!”

“As soon as I got onto the dam all I could think about was trying to catch Sbonelo and I wasn’t even aware that Hank (McGregor) was going really well behind me.”

McGregor, having set the fastest time of the day by three and a half minutes and having also been a beneficiary of Birkett’s swim, made his way up from fifth position at the start of the day into third overall and ready to jump at any chance the two in front of him may offer on day three.

“The first thirty minutes or so were absolute hell. It was pretty low and we kept having to bump over the rocks. Once we got to confluence it was a big relief. I was much happier and was able to really work quite hard at catching the guys in front of me,” said McGregor.

“I came past Andy and I knew how he must have been feeling. It’s a really dangerous area to be playing in. I’ve come pipe in situations like that before so I know how easily it can happen.”

“The big water was always going to play an important part of my race so I took a couple of calculated risks and they paid off for me.”

“Tomorrow is going to be an interesting one. It’s always difficult chasing. You’ve just got to put your head down and go for it. Everything is hurting but anything can happen. You can make a mistake so easily no matter who you are, as we saw with Andy today, but hopefully that won’t be me tomorrow and I’ll just try do my best and see how things go.”

Having had a day of both emotional extremes triple defending champ Andy Birkett (Team Best 4 Kayak Centre) managed to pull himself together and recovered remarkably after his mishaps to catch and pass Thulani Mbanjwa to finish fourth overall, five and a half minutes behind Zondi.

One of the results of the day saw the vastly experienced and four times Dusi winner ant Stott storm through the field moving up from eleventh place overnight to sixth going into the final stage.

“Today was great for me. The plan was to hit the shallow water hard and then be a bit conservative on the big water. I had a great paddle with no mistakes.”

“I think experience definitely played quite a big part today. I had a few tricks up my sleeve which helped me get ahead of one or two guys.”

Cam Schoeman, Stott’s former world marathon champs partner, also shook things up as he soared into the top ten, finishing seventh having started in fourteenth whilst double K2 winner Jason Graham also gained a couple of positions on his way to eighth position with Zonele Nzuza and Gauteng’s Loveday Zondi rounding out the top ten.

Former Olympic sprinter Shaun Rubenstein also had a positive upward shift on day two as he went from thirty-fourth to nineteenth, an vast improvement after day one's pedal mishap.

Under 18 Maritzburg College youngster Travis Wilson continued his fantastic day one form as he leapt from second to the front of the junior boys race as he opened a gap of over six minutes over his nearest rival, overnight leader Damon Stamp, and in the process claiming a remarkable top twenty position as he finished sixteenth overall.

With the final day’s changed start sequence, which will see batches B and below start departing Inanda Dam from 05h30 onwards and the leaders in elapsed time and A batch only departing from 11h00 onwards, the cat really has been thrown amongst the proverbial pigeon and there is everything to play for as paddlers head for Durban’s Blue Lagoon.

Overnight women's leader Robyn Kime extended her lead in the women’s race of The Unlimited Dusi after an eventful day two, raced between Dusi Bridge and the Inanda Dam on Friday, which saw the triple defending champ break her own day two record by over six minutes.

Despite the cool conditions overcast skies, on the water the competition was hot as fortunes fluctuated throughout the day with Kime's race being seconds away from being destroyed midway through the day.

For Kime, Hippo Rapid almost spelt the end of her Dusi challenge when she got it all wrong and wrapped her boat in the pool below the rapid.

“It was one epic incident,” she said. “I took the day very conservatively, but I often swim at Hippo. There’s only one place you can break your boat at Hippo, but I found it.

“My boat was almost folded in half. I managed to save it before it totally broke and was very surprised when my boat simply popped back into shape.

“I thought ‘that’s it, it’s gone’,” she admitted.

It took Kime some time to get back into a rhythm. “I emptied the boat, had a quick look at it. It looked okay. I stopped, put my splashie back on. Then I had to stop for a few seconds, take a few deep breaths to compose myself and carry on.”

Abby Adie held onto second spot and despite the race leader’s adventure at Hippo Rapid still lost a little time to Kime. Nonetheless, she enjoyed the greater premium placed on paddling after her struggles while portaging on the opening day.

“Today was brilliant,” said Adie. “I had just one little incident of spinning out at Marianni Foley, where I hooked an eddy.”

Bianca Haw, in third place after the first day, entered the Inanda Dam accompanied by Jen Theron and Hilary Pitchford, but former sprint star Theron used her strength on the flat water to pull clear of Haw. She couldn’t shake Pitchford, however.

“The dam is what I’m good at - it’s so boring and flat. I worked really, really hard to get her (Bianca) off of the bunch, but I couldn’t drop Hilary, so the race is on tomorrow,” she said.

Like Adie, she enjoyed the higher water levels. “Thank goodness today we could paddle and we didn’t have to run,” Theron said.

“I think we must really celebrate Robyn’s achievements, how she is showing that she can even compete with the men. It’s fantastic for our sport, seeing the young talent coming through,” she added.

The top three finishers revealed different approaches to the looming challenge of the Burma Road portage on day three, which will play a crucial role in the outcome of the race.

“To be conservative, I am going to have to run over Burma,” said Kime.

“There is no way I can run Burma, so I’m going to have to shoot Island, maybe,” reckoned Theron.

“Pumphouse is going to be big tomorrow, so I think the girls are going to have to be careful and play it safe,” Adie said.

After a heart-in-mouth day for race leader Kime, she repeated her refrain of the first day that the race is never won until the end. “You never know what is going to happen and there are always lots of mistakes. Racing on rivers, it’s one of the challenges. Falls affect confidence, but you’ve got to keep going,” she said.

RESULTS DUSI CANOE MARATHON - DAY TWO

OVERALL MEN

1. Sbonelo Zondi 3:00.25 5:43.42
2. Lance Kime (U23) 2:59.24 5:44.50
3. Hank McGregor 2:55.52 5:46.55
4. Andy Birkett (U23) 3:05.42 5:49.19
5. Thulani Mbanjwa 3:01.32 5:52.25
6. Ant Stott 3:02.13 6:00.26
7. Cam Schoeman 3:03.58 6:04.57
8. Jason Graham 3:07.51 6:04.59
9. Loveday Zondi 3:13.05 6:09.57
10. Zonele Nzuza 3:14.31 6:09.58
11. Michael Odvarko 3:08.32 6:10.45
12. Jacques Theron 3:05.58 6:10.46
13. Len Jenkins 3:15.27 6:10.47
14. Siseko Ntondini (U23) 3:10.59 6:13.11
15. Gavin Shuter (U23) 3:05.10 6:13.12
16. Travis Wilson (U18) 3:08.15 6:13.13
17. Murray Starr (U23) 3:05.00 6:13.14
18. Lucas Mthalane 3:15.16 6:16.52
19. Shaun Rubenstein 3:07.40 6:16.56
20. Banesti Nkhoesa (U23) 3:11.15 6:16.58

WOMEN

1. Robyn Kime (U23) 3:18.58 6:30.19
2. Abby Adie 3:21.38 6:46.53
3. Jen Theron 3:26.49 7:00.18
4. Hiary Pitchford 3:28.23 7:00.23
5. Bianca Haw (U18) 3:36.14 7:03.00

U23

1. Lance Kime 2:59.24 5:44.50
2. Andy Birkett 3:05.42 5:49.19
3. Siseko Ntondini 3:10.59 6:13.11

U18

1. Travis Wilson 3:08:15 6:13:13
2. Damon Stamp 3:14:34 6:19:32
3. Tyler Wilson 3:23:14 6:37:29
4. Mxolisi Ntuli 3:24:01 6:39:25
5. Nqobile Makhanya 3:35:57 6:44:12