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 This morning, in the 2007 Scottburgh to Brighton race, Shadrack
Mkhize became the first black South African paddler to finish in the top five
in a surf ski marathon event.
With the top bunch
He was with the top bunch until about 5km from ‘Toti when he
dropped back. He came in about a minute
behind but hung on after the half way mark to finish in well deserved 5th
place at Anstey's Beach. (Brighton Beach
was inaccessible because of recent storm damage and the race finish was moved
1.6km further up the coast.)
 Shadrack Mkhize at the finish of the 2007 Scottburgh to Brighton (Photo: www.sportspictures.co.za)
"Today was a really hard one," he said, "and after ‘Toti we
had a headwind for the rest of the race."
He said he felt every kilo of the 18.5kg of his glass ski - the top four
finishers of the race were all on light carbon skis and Bevan Manson, the
winner of the race was paddling the 8kg V10Elite. Mkhize reckons he'd be more competitive on a light ski and says he'd welcome some sponsorship.
ARB Surf Ski World Cup
He had a good ARB Surf Ski World Cup, coming in 38th
out of 147 single skis in wild downwind conditions. "Where I work on the south coast beaches," he
said, "we have big waves all the time so the conditions didn't worry me. I really enjoyed doing the 30km in less than
two hours."
Mkhize runs his own company, Ubuntu Lifeguards, supplying services to South Coast beaches and is a professional lifeguard himself.
Mkhize coaches himself.
"He's a big strong guy," said Dawid Mocke of Mkhize, "and I've
been so impressed with his paddling this season."
Hats off to Shadrack - awesome performance.
[Editor: We believe Shadrack Mhkize has the potential to compete at the highest level - let us know if you can help with his quest for a lighter ski and we'll put you in touch with him. Epic? Fenn? Red7? Custom Kayaks? This man can showcase your products...]
[Editor: Update (19 July 2007): Sponsorship from Keith Fenn will see Shadrack Mkhize paddling a carbon Fenn Mako6 in the near future... We look forward to Shadrack imposing himself at the front of the fleet...]
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Richard