A decade in the making

He said this year's event was the first time he had won a major category after competing in the race for the past 10 years.

He has previously competed in different categories such as singles, doubles and teams of two or four.

"There was plenty of water for the whole race," he said.

�You have to pick your way through the shallow section and the water's a bit deeper as you progress but by the time you get to Bells Rapids, the pressure is on to get through and make that last obstacle and then paddle on through to the finish.

�I knew I had a two-minute lead on Matt Dean from the day before but being so close on Sunday, we were neck and neck the whole way to the finish line so I didn't want to compromise my time at Syd's Rapids.

�Those last few rapids are really stressful and Syd's is definitely a place where you can lose the race.

"There's no good way down."

Rice said he had been eating a lot since he crossed the finish line to speed up his recovery after his 9 hour, 8 minute and 43 second race time.

Matt Dean completed the race in 9:11:37. Third in the paddlers was James Morfitt in 9:20:39.

The triple kayak team of Ben Dallin, Matt Coutts and Brett McDondald, calling themselves Unbrok3n, were very intact as they raced to the finish line in a time of 8:49:1.