World champion surfskier Danielle McKenzie wins Dragon Run Ocean Race, having set ‘high expectations’ for herself
- The New Zealander’s first overseas race was the world championship in France this year, which she won
New Zealander Danielle McKenzie proved that winning the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in France in September was no fluke when she backed up her performance in Hong Kong over the weekend with another victory. The surfski event in Europe was her first overseas race, but even with no track record she took gold.
With the prize money she earned, she travelled to Hong Kong and raced in The Steelcase Dragon Run, part of the World Surfski League, last weekend. The 21km race took paddlers, aboard their seagoing kayaks, from Clear Water Bay to Stanley.
“I’ve done a lot of international races in surf life saving, so I have high expectations for myself,” she said.
“[In Hong Kong] there wasn’t a prevailing wind, but there was a big ocean swell,” she said. “There was quite a big backwash coming from the rocks and cliffs, and I’d be working quite hard over the last few weeks so I was able to ride them back out to sea.”
Coming into the Dragon Run, McKenzie was suffering from tendinitis in her elbow, but she had an injection of cortisone to ease the pain about two weeks ago and it seemed to do the trick.
“I went into the race pretty confident,” McKenzie said. “I’d been doing a lot of training in the last three weeks.”