All-girls surfboat team has their sights set on Oz
The athletes shared that this competition holds importance for them, not only because it will take place at their home beach but also because the surfboat crew will also enter the World Lifesaving Surfboat Championships to be held at Kurrawa, Gold Coast, Australia, in August this year.
ONLY in the past four years have women been welcomed as interested competitors in the sport of surfboat racing here in South Africa despite the sport having massive support and participation by women in other countries. The Durban’s Marine Surf Lifesaving Club Ladies’ Surfboat Crew have not let this slow them down and have won the South African Ladies’ Open Surfboat Championships title back to back in 2022 and 2023, with both occasions being in Gwebergha (PE).
The 2024 National Championships take place this year on their home turf in Durban at Addington Beach.
Berea Mail spoke with Glenwood residents, Kendra Robinson and Ciarda Sharp, who form part of the team, ahead of the upcoming competition.
Robinson explained that her position in the team is Stroke 1 and Sharp is Bow 2. “We put our team together at the end of the year in 2019. There are five people in our surfboat team – four girls and our Sweep, Gary Brummer. In a surfboat team, you have a Sweep at the back of the boat – they steer the boat and guide the team members, and they play no role in actually moving the boat – their only role is to direct it. Then there is Stroke 1 who sits by the Sweep. Stroke 2 sits just behind Stroke 1 but at a vertical angle. Then there are Bow 2 and Bow 1 who sit right at the front of the boat.”
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Sharp, who has been participating in the sport since 2019, says there is nothing like the feeling of being in the middle of a surfboat competition. “It’s always exhilarating being in a competition – there’s a lot of adrenaline going, especially when you’re dealing with the ocean. It’s always unpredictable – you never know what to expect, and you have to have a lot of faith in your team members. It’s very different from stillwater rowing. The unpredictability of the ocean requires you to have skill on how to navigate it.”
Robinson said the team is in training all year round. “We train about five to six times a week. We row together about three times a week, then we do our own training in the gym or go for a run, just to make sure we’re fit enough to be on the boats. It’s not all focused on arm strength; you have to focus on your legs being strong because we push with our legs to exert force in a squat position.”
The athletes shared that this competition holds importance for them, not only because it will take place at their home beach but also because the surfboat crew will also enter the World Lifesaving Surfboat Championships to be held at Kurrawa, Gold Coast, Australia, in August this year.
“If we make it to the World Championships, it will be the first time an all-girls surfboat crew have ever gone from South Africa,” said Robinson.
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“Winning the South African Ladies’ Open Surfboat Championships this March does not mean we qualify for World Championships – surfboat teams from all over the world are free to enter if they have the means to get there. But we are extremely committed, and we want to achieve that goal,” said Sharp.
The local surfboat team has launched a Back-A-Buddy page and is appealing for donations to make history as the first South African all-female team to compete at the World Lifesaving Surfboat Championships.
To donate, click the link below:
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