St Stithians rowers celebrate success in Canadian regatta #SchoolSport
LYME PARK – The rowers won numerous medals during the competition.
Twenty-nine rowers from St Stithians College made their school proud when they competed in the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.
The trip was the culmination of many years of planning and took place this year as Saint Rowing celebrates their Golden Jubilee. St Stithians College is grateful to the two Masters in Charge of Rowing for the colleges, Alex Cruickshanks from Boys’ College, and James Buchanan from the Girls’ College, for the hard work, training and planning that was put in to make this momentous tour a reality. They would also like to acknowledge tour manager Simon Moore for all his organising behind the scenes and while in Canada, and Deputy Head of Sport at the girls’ college, Nicky White who was affectionately dubbed “Tour Mom”.
The Saints rowers competed against 2200 other rowers ranging from U17 to senior championship rowers, in what is regarded as the biggest 2km rowing regatta in the world.
The U17 boys quad, made up of Lambros Sioutas, Zarret Mills, Daniel Meiring and Aidan Urquhart, made it through the heats and semi-finals to line up in the finals of that event where they placed sixth.
The boys U19 coxed four (including Liam Keegan, Dylan Schmidt, Michael Laburn, and Nashe Mucharambeyi, coxed by Michael Cane, narrowly missed out on a spot in the finals by 0.08 of a second to a Princeton National Rowing Association crew.
The St Stithians College Girls’ College U17 double, Shelby Schoeman and Jenna- Lee Markgraaff won gold in the Women’s U17 double finals.
The girls U17 quad and U17 coxed four, made up of Catherine McConnell, Electra Teichmann, Malaika Sibanda, Katie Gouws and cox Kaileen Govender made it through to the semi-finals where they placed 5th, very narrowly missing out on the finals.
The St Stithians Girls’ College U17 quad made up of Shelby Schoeman, Skye Tucker, Jenna-Lee Markgraaff and Brigitte Kappler won their semi-final and then went on to win a gold in the women’s U17 Quad event.
Shelby Schoeman also raced in the U17 women’s single where she came 2nd in her heat, she then won her semi-final and placed second in the final, winning a silver.
Buchanan said, “It has been absolutely unbelievable! Our girls are out of this world, absolutely world class.Very proud of all of our rowers.”
This achievement is made that much more special by the fact that St Stithians Girls’ College is the first girls school in South Africa to participate in an international rowing tour.
Cruickshanks, added, “The racing for the boys has been tough but an incredible learning experience. The format is brutal and the lack of seeding makes it a bit of a lottery. I am really proud of how all the boys raced and their behaviour and attitude. I am hugely excited for the upcoming season and so are they, so we’re definitely on the right track.”
Details: St Stithians College: 011 577 6000.
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