Stunning Win! Abbey Ulansky and Robyn Kime after their great win
The finish of the 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon on Saturday produced a magical moment of pride for the Sporting Post’s Karel and Kiki Miedema. Their daughter Abbey Ulansky clinched a record ninth career victory when she and her partner, fast emerging Dusi Princess Robyn Kime, held off a valiant effort from Abby Adie and Anna Adamová to clinch a hard-fought victory in the women’s race of the world famous Canoe Marathon.
Kime and Ulansky started the day with just ninety seconds in the bank and knew they were always going to be in for a tough final stage if they were to claim a third consecutive title as a partnership.
A brave effort on the Burma Road portage in the midday heat and a strong finish saw them narrowly edge out a flying Adie and Adamová by just a single minute after 119km of racing.
““We are over the moon to make it three in a row! Robs and I have paddled together for a while and formed a great partnership and this year was more challenging for us as number one we had stronger competition and number two we have had other commitments, so we weren’t as strong as we wanted to be but we had great fun and really worked hard,” said Ulansky.
“The win really is a cherry on the top of a fantastic trip back to South Africa. We worked hard for this win, which makes it even more special, and a great compliment to visiting friends and family in South Africa,” she added.
Ulansky subsequently announced her retirement from competitive racing at the Dusi while Kime will be out of paddling action in South Africa for the foreseeable future as she embarks on a sailing and mountain climbing adventure to and around South America.
“I’ve just finished my masters two weeks ago which has made the build-up to this year’s race quite challenging,” said Kime. “Now that the Dusi is done and my studies are done I’m free and my boyfriend and I are going travelling.
“We are joining an expedition to South America where we sailing from Cape Town to Brazil and then we’ll go climb some mountains in Bolivia and Peru and I’m very excited about that!” she added.
