It's time for Dusi to get TV coverage

With over 2 000 entries and nearly 1 500 canoes, the Powerade Dusi marathon has now come of age.

On the morning of the first day, Pietermaritzburg came to a virtual standstill as thousands of spectators lined the river banks.

For three days many South African sports fans were absorbed by the progress of the leaders and many had a personal interest in the progress of a friend or relative in the race.

"The Dusi" is now a special part of the South African sporting calendar. It is now important enough to warrant more media coverage, particularly on television, than it is getting. In tandem with the growth of the race, it is time the television coverage came of age as well.

At the moment, the Dusi is where the Comrades marathon was in the 1970s as far as television coverage is concerned.

The race is considered important enough to warrant some television coverage but not important enough to have prolonged live coverage.

Viewers are treated to a few moments of television coverage each evening and then an hour's "packaged Dusi" on a weekend, sometimes two or three weeks after the race.

This was the case with the Comrades marathon in the 1970s. With fields of under 2 000, the Comrades television broadcast was usually an hour long programme broadcast a fortnight or so after the race.

Then in 1983, the race went live from the halfway point onwards.

The broadcast was so successful for both the race itself and the SABC, that the Comrades was soon broadcast in its entirety.

The 11 hours of marathon running could be considered exciting viewing would have seemed ridiculous a few years previously and yet the full Comrades day of television has become a permanent part of many South African sport fans' year.

This, despite the fact that once the silver medallists have finished, most of the following runners are actually not running. They are limping, hobbling or lurching their way to the finish line.

The human drama keeps viewers rivetted to their screens. It remains a fascinating aspect of the race that the most exciting and dramatic moment in the Comrades is the struggle at the end of the day to beat the gun at final cut-off time.

The very last runner home is accorded almost the same status as the winner.

The television coverage of the Comrades may change a little in format but it is my bet that the full 11 hours (12 hours this year) will continue to be shown live for many years to come.

If it is deemed worth broadcasting several hours of marathon runners walking and jogging by the thousands, how much more worthwhile watching the paddlers?

So much more happens in canoe races. There is so much more drama, action and excitement.

For a start the setting is a beautiful one. An ancient African river winding its way to the sea through deep gorges, past villages and indigenous forests. Swirling waters with thundering rapids between the calm sections.

Something exciting can be expected to happen every few moments.

The rapids themselves with ominous names like "Mission","Graveyard", "Five Fingers" and "The Maze" are as potentially exciting as the famous fences in the Grand National.

Beecher's Brook always claims several victims in the famous steeplechase horse race. So too does Valentines and the infamous Foinavon Fence. In the Dusi, the dicey "Commercial Weir" "Island Two" and "Little John" have their fair share of fallers. Perch a camera on a dry rock and point it at the action. The desperate paddlers battling their way along will keep the viewers glued to their seats.

Even the running in the Dusi is more exciting in many ways than the Comrades. Remember, this is a canoeing race, and yet at times, paddlers can be spotted kilometres away from water.

The sight of two paddlers bedecked with water bottles, life jackets and carrying paddles and a canoe and jogging past a homestead and kraal must be unique in the world. This is one of South Africa's most important contributions to strengthening the name of African sport.

So much is dependent on the commentators conveying the excitement of an event to viewers and there are plenty of Dusi veterans who could add so much interest to the race.

"That, by the way viewers, is not the correct line through Umzinyati rapid. Wait for the swim"

The commentators who describe the America's Cup race to viewers are experts at turning a potentially boring race into an exciting event. The Dusi has so much excitement to make a commentator's job a delight.

Finally, the paddlers themselves do so much to make any broadcast worthwhile. At the back there is courage and good humour. In front there is exceptional athleticism.

If more South Africans could see how incredibly paddlers like the cunning pair, Mark Perrow and Martin Dreyer performed, they would realise that the race acts as a magnificent platform on which greatness can be built.

The leading paddlers perform as magnificently as our best cricketers, footballers, marathon runners and rugby players. It is time South Africans are able to watch and savour their performance live.