Holden rows to national colours
Benoni's Garth Holden is rowing to the top. Holden rows into national team
Morehill resident Garth Holden (17) was recently awarded his national colours for rowing.
Holden started rowing less than four years ago, at St Benedict’s College, in Bedfordview.
This past season saw the St Benedict’s eight (8+) boat invited to Boston, Massachusetts, to participate in the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta, where the team were hosted by Harvard University.
Being the only crew from Africa, they were seeded 80th of 85 entries in their division.
The South African boys put in a fantastic performance and finished eighth overall.
Other highlights in the year included winning the Buffalo and Selborne regattas, in Port Elizabeth, as well as the annual Schools Boat Race, in Port Alfred.
The season culminated in the SA Schools Championships, on Roodeplaat Dam, in Pretoria, where Holden’s boats won gold in the junior men’s 8+ category, gold in the junior men’s coxed fours (4+) and silver in the junior men’s coxless pairs (2-) event.
This helped St Benedict’s secure the national championship, a title they have held for the past 21 years.
Rowing in South Africa has been gaining in popularity every year, partly due to the lightweight men’s four boat, who won gold at the 2012 Olympics, in London.
The performance of the St Benedict’s 4+ boat at the national championship impressed the board members of RowSA to the extent that the entire crew were invited to trials for the Gauteng Schools Rowing Federation.
After four months of training, both on and off the water at the Tuks High Performance Centre, in Pretoria, the crew were selected to represent South Africa at the Junior World Rowing Championships, in Hamburg, Germany.
The championships are held for the world’s top rowers under the age of 19 and took place between August 6 and 10.
Almost 800 rowers from 53 countries took part in the event.
South Africa entered teams in five of the 13 divisions, three of who made it through to the A-finals.
Holden’s boat finished fourth in their division, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal.
