St Albans College Rowing Club wins Boat Race 2015 in Port Alfred
Boat Race is one of the most exciting events on the schools’ rowing calendar.
St Alban’s College Rowing Club recently won the coveted gold medal at the 16th SA Schools Boat Race on the Kowie river in Port Alfred.
The Port Alfred River Ski Boat Club and St Andrew’s College host this event every year, featuring the top oarsmen and women from South Africa’s rowing schools. The race was again sponsored by Standard Bank.
Boat Race is one of the most exciting events on the schools’ rowing calendar. It showcases the dedication, effort, grit, determination, strength and tenacity required for this sport.
Over two days, each junior men’s coxed eight crew rows in the heads races and finals of this 6.2 km race. The junior women’s coxed quad crews row 4 km.
This year 16 junior men’s crews and 13 junior women’s crews from all over the country and Zimbabwe were in the lineup.
St Alban’s Rowing Club is a small sculling club of 32 rowers under the able leadership of coach Tiago Loureiro.
Each year, the top eight scullers transform themselves into sweep oarsmen and take on the larger specialist crews of schools such as St John’s, St Benedict’s, St Stithian’s and St Andrew’s College.
St Alban’s last won Boat Race in 2012 and was placed third in the past two years.
This year, the crew of Cameron Jackman (cox), and rowers Josh Harty, Nicholas Mason, Thomas Scholtz, Nicholas Botoulas, Robert Saunders, Gabriel Smith, Dillan Laubsher and Luke Knibbs repeated the victory for first place.
This year, the club had to draw on under 16s Botoulas and Laubsher to make up the numbers for the coxed eight.
The wind was gusty during the heads races on Friday afternoon. At the halfway stage, coach Tiago was amazed at the progress that the crew was making after only rowing sweep together for three weeks.
The times achieved in these heads races determine which final the crews row in the following day.
St Alban’s were the fastest on the water on Friday and reached the A final against St Stithian’s, this year’s Gauteng champions in the coxed eight event. St John’s and St Benedict’s battled for the bronze in the B final.
Foremost in every crew’s race strategy is the Kowie, with its twists and turns, tides and sandbanks, and the ever-present wind.
Boat Race is therefore as much about the cox as it is about the rowers. It is the cox’s responsibility to guide the crew, mentally and physically, through the race.
Cox Cameron Jackman did an outstanding job. He navigated the crew to the finish line for a convincing win to bring the trophy back to Pretoria.
“It is hard to believe that this young crew has just won Boat Race 2015,” said coach Loureiro.
“That the trophy is coming home once again is a testament to these nine fiercely determined and hardworking athletes.”
Headmaster Tom Hamilton proudly said: “There is something extraordinary about the winning culture in our rowing club. Congratulations to the boys and to Tiago Loureiro for his brilliant coaching.”
The boat was kindly lent by Tuks Rowing and the crew was sponsored by Landrover Menlyn.
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