Nosipho Mthembu is a paddler out of water

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Lerato Mampa

The young canoeist is finding life in lockdown and banned from the dam on which she usually trains tedious, but all the running could stand her in good stead come next year’s Dusi Marathon.

“I’m good, but life is boring without paddling.” This was the reply by text from 18-year-old paddler Nosipho Mthembu when asked how she was doing during the government’s Covid-19 lockdown.

It’s early morning, the chickens are awake but only just. Nosipho and her 13-year-old sister Luyanda are in running shoes. After a short walk from their home, they start doing sprints. The start and finish point is right in front of the gate at Shongweni Dam. They have not had access to the water since the lockdown began in March.

“I am not a runner, I’m a paddler. I’m tired of running. Sjoe. Since March, I have had to run… maybe three times a week,” she says with a wry smile.

In March 2013, 12-year-old Nosipho asked her parents if she could join her friends who were paddling at Shongweni Dam, a body of water she looks at every day as she walks out the front door of her family home. “They said no, there are many people dying there … There are rumours that there’s a big snake.”

 

“I wanna win the Dusi next year.” It is a statement. Not a pipe dream, but a desire that gets her up with the rooster, doing strength work on the front veranda overlooking the dam.

Like other sportspeople, her hard work has taken a slight detour. Nearly six years after she first sat in a boat, the countrywide lockdown to battle the coronavirus came into effect. And running without paddling to balance out the training quickly lost its appeal. “I even told my mom that [I am not a runner, I’m a paddler] when she was asking me why I’m not running anymore.”

Could this be a blessing in disguise? Her household chores include sweeping and mopping the veranda, which looks out directly on to the dam. After so long off the water, this might seem a cruel and unusual punishment. To win the Dusi is not just about being paddling fit, portages are crucial to winning. And this time spent pounding the tarmac will be putting time into her legs that could prove essential in winning.

Even so, the good-humoured youngster is struggling with isolation from her tribe. “It’s hard. I don’t know. My life is boring,” she said with a smile and a grimace.

 

By: Rogan Ward  |  This article was first published by New Frame

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