Broken records for former HRS pupil
Former Holy Rosary School pupil and South African rowing team member, Thato Mabelane has successfully become the first African oarswoman to row across the Atlantic Ocean.
On Thursday, Thato arrived in Barbados, two hours ahead of schedule.
She arrived back in South Africa on Monday morning.
Thato grew up in Tembisa and attended Holy Rosary School where she was first introduced to the sport of rowing.
Following her academic and sporting success at school, she moved to Grahamstown and enrolled at Rhodes University.
Thato studied human kinetics and ergonomics and was an integral part of the woman’s 1st eight rowing crew.
In 2003, she was invited to attend an international rowing training camp in Seville, Spain, after which she represented South Africa at the FISA Team Cup international regatta.
Thato enjoyed numerous successes in the years that followed, including competing at the World University Championships in Brive La Galiarde, France, in the coxless 4 event.
During the event, she finished seventh overall.
She then moved back to Johannesburg to continue her rowing career at the University of Johannesburg, where she focused her studies on human resources management.
She eventually hung up her oar in 2006.
“We were not only attempting to break records, we were also aiming to raise R3-million for Early Childhood Development,” said Thato.
The charities that will benefit from the Atlantic crossing are the Ubunye Foundation, formerly known as the Angus Gillis Foundation, and the Bulamahlo Orphanage in Tembisa, established in 1989.
Thato and the other crew members met in Gran Canaria – Puerto Mogan, on January 10, from where they set off to row 5 000 kilometres across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados.
The crew was skippered by the world-renowned ocean rowing skipper Leven Brown, of Ocean Row Events.
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the crew rowed in shifts of two hours on and two hours off for the duration of the row in the 45-foot, purpose-built ocean rowing boat called Avalon.
