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A feature of this year's Old Mutual Bank PE2EL Challenge has been the incredible performance of the team from the Dave Williams-Ashman School of Paddling Excellence.
Current singles leader Paul Marais, Pete Cole (currently lying 3rd) and the doubles team of Bruce Neil and Theo van Dyk (lying 2nd) are all beneficiaries of the highly effective training techniques of the renowned Dave Williams-Ashman (currently lying an astonishing 64th overall. Out of 77.).
Training Techniques
The details of the actual techniques employed in the honing of the skills of the Cape based team are not known at this time, but the results speak for themselves. Out of all the paddlers involved, Ant Pearse was the most forthcoming. "Dave is our spiritual leader," he said. "Mentally and physically he's put us into a better place." He went on, "the guy just has an aura about him - he brings out the best in everybody."
T-Shirts the answer?
What is known about the team and their shadowy training methods is that there is no doubt whatsoever that they have T-shirts - these have been spotted around the Cape peninsula in the weeks leading up to the PE2EL Challenge. Well, they were spotted at the Peter Crease memorial race in Fish Hoek last Sunday anyway.
Secret Training Venues
This year the DWASOPE team has been strangely reticent about doing what used to be their favourite "circuit" from Fish Hoek past Sunny Cove to Simonstown, out to the lighthouse and back. In fact they've been spotted training almost anywhere else, especially at Sandvlei where fishy happenings have not increased in recent years, in contrast to certain other locations in the peninsula.
"The vlei is flat and nice and safe," said Ant. "It has the lowest concentration of Great White sharks per square metre of all our training locations."
"And that's the way we like it," he added.
Will this trend continue? And will the DWASOPE eventually take over from the hitherto leader of paddling training, the Cape and Durban based Surf Ski School? Time will tell - and so will Surfski.info... Or not.
The DWASOPE team comprises:
Paul Marais
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Peter Cole
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Wojtek Orzechowski
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Ant Pearse
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Dom Strano
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Mike de Villiers
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Justin Maddock
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Dave Williams-Ashman
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Paul Neil
And the doubles teams of:
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Bruce Neil and Theo van Dyk
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Andrew Torr and Beetle Bailey.
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