Joking Jenkins gearing up for victory

Len Jenkins has earned himself so many medals over the past few years, he's put them in a bag to use as a doorstop. So, a victory at this weekend's Hansa Powerade Fish River Canoe Marathon would be nothing new for the Pietermaritzburg paddler.

In fact, it would be his third win in the famous 82km Eastern Cape race and it would mean he would retain the South Africa K1 title.

“This could be the third time I win the Fish so there's a lot more pressure on me than I would like,” explained Jenkins who has been doing a fair share of homework on the international contingent on the Internet.

“Every year they bring out all these world champions to paddle against me. I don't know if the organisers have something against me and don't want me to win or something,” joked Jenkins, referring to world wild water champion Arnaud Hybois of France who will be part of the powerful international team.

“But the talent in this country is amazing as well and we have the advantage of river knowledge,” he added. Jenkins admitted that compared with previous years, his preparation for the Fish, which starts in Cradock on Friday, has been minimal.

“I have been quite lazy over the past few months and have only done an average of seven hours a week on the water,” he said. “Just to give you a comparison, Hank McGregor has been preparing for the World Championships and has been doing about four hours a day.

“I think I've just been lazy to tell you the truth,” added Jenkins. “But for some reason I'm going really fast and I shouldn't really be that good.”

Jenkins said his reduced training did not necessarily mean he is unfit, although he does have a slight concern over the final stretches of the two-day race. “It's just the last 20 minutes of each day that I'm a little worried about.”

The 24 year old added that he was determined not to have a repeat of 2004's fiasco which saw him and partner McGregor breaking a rudder cable on the first day.

“I've just been dismantling my boat and rebuilding it, making sure everything is working and I have a new rudder cable,” he said. “I've lost two major races because of a rudder cable so that won't happen again.”

It will not only be the foreign paddlers who'll provide Jenkins with some serious competition this weekend, but also the likes of locals Loveday Zondi (third in this year's Dusi), Graham Bird, Michael Mbanjwa and Graeme Solomon.

The women's race looks to be all about Cape Town paddler Abbey Miedema. The race office is still taking late entries. More information can be found at fishmarathon.org.za.