The Standard Bank SA Schools Boat Race, hosted by St Andrew’s College, will take place in the first week of December in Port Alfred.
The 2024 event, on Friday December 6 and Saturday December 7, will celebrate the 24th edition of the boat race, all of which have been held on the Kowie River.
A total of 28 school and club crews from across the country are set to take part in what is one of the premier events for junior rowers in SA.
It is a unique challenge for all the competitors as they must navigate the twists and turns and changing tides of the Kowie River, compared to normal rowing events which take place on a straight course over 1km or 2km.
In the junior men’s event, racing over 5.5km, St Benedict’s College from Bedfordview in Johannesburg are the defending champions and have set the pace in Gauteng so far this season.
The top Eastern and Western Cape crews will be aiming to challenge them for the title they have now won for four consecutive years.
Taking part for the first time in the junior men’s event will be the Soweto Rowing Club from Johannesburg.
St Mary’s School from Waverley in Johannesburg have been crowned champions for nine consecutive years in the junior women’s race and will be out to defend their title once again.
The newcomers to this event are Wemmer Pan Rowing Club from Johannesburg, while St Dunstan’s College return to the competition for the first time since 2018.
The junior women’s race covers a 4.2km course, starting from the corner of Centenary Park.
Hosts St Andrew’s will be joined by another Makhanda school taking part in the event, Diocesan School for Girls (DSG).
The St Andrew’s crew will be looking to improve on a notable third place finish in 2023.
The crew includes cox Callum McMurray, stroke Zac Fletcher, 7 Rafael Carrara, 6 Chris Jarvis, 5 James Jarvis, 4 Jaryd Mattison, 3 Alex Herbaut, 2 Josh Herring, and bow Matthew Theron. Reserves: Theresö Lesese, Olona Kamba and Jock Estcourt.
Most of the DSG crew members bring with them experience from 2023’s event, where they finished 10th overall.
They will be looking to climb further up the rankings with a season’s experience behind them.
The DSG crew includes stroke Rachel Murray, 3 Mila Wienand, 2 Caitlyn Smith, 1 Emily Palmer, and cox Eve Wilken. Reserves: Jenna Calow and Ella Bartlett.
The first round of racing takes place on Friday December 6, with all teams competing in a time trial.
The junior women will race at 2pm and the junior men at 4.30pm.
The crews are ranked for the finals based on the time trial results.
The finals will take place from the Saturday morning onwards, leading up to the A finals for both events as the last races on the Saturday afternoon.
Spectators are welcome to watch the racing from the many viewpoints on the river.
There will also be a dedicated Spectator Zone at the Port Alfred Ski Club, both overlooking the finish line and showing the SuperSport Schools live-stream of the racing further upriver.
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