THE HEAT IS ON AT HENLEY
Time on tarmac, delays for paperwork added up to 44 hours for Zimbabwe Henley crew
Bronwen Prince and Erin Broski from Ridley College compete in the under-17 women’s double on the opening day of the 135th annual Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.
Harare International Airport in the Zimbabwean capital to Pearson International Airport in Mississauga is 17 hours and 55 minutes as the crow hitching a ride on a passenger jet making one stop flies.
That crow, and the planes, that carried seven rowers from the southern African country over the pond to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta took a more circuitous route.
It was definitely much more bureaucratic, both in terms of paperwork and delays waiting for paperwork.
If time spent on three flights wasn’t enough, a contingent that also included one coach, a manager and a “parent cook” endured delays of two hours in Johannesburg, South Africa, three in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and an hour on the tarmac in Ottawa.
Assistant coach Mario Cunha “more or less” expected those delays since there are no direct flights connecting Harare and Pearson.
What the 46-year-old professional photographer didn’t anticipate, and what extended the total time travelling to 44 hours, not including the trip down the Queen Elizabeth Way to the dorms at Brock University, was the hours spent grounded in Dubai waiting for verification for their travel documents.
“They couldn’t find our visa applications,” he said. “It was a bit of an issue, but they eventually found those.”
“We had to dig them up from emails in Zimbabwe, so we were in touch with people there.”
The delays didn’t end once they adjusted their watches to Eastern Standard Time. They ended up circling Toronto for an hour before bad weather forced them to land in Ottawa.
“It took them three to four hours to refuel,” Cunha said recalling a Zimbabwe assistant rowing coach Mario Cunha trip that at times seemed without end. Another “three to four hours” was spent securing ground transportation to take them to St. Catharines.
“We didn’t have a credit card that was working,” he said. “There’s a situation in Zim with credit cards.”
To most people, especially landlubbers who wouldn’t know a sculling oar from Bobby Orr, that would be more than enough to convince them to pack it in, but not the closeknit crew from Zimbabwe.
“Actually, you know what, without any of the finals and anything like that, it has been worth it,” Cunha said. “Just this experience of being here has been incredible.”
Actually, you know what, without any of the finals and anything like that, it has been worth it. Just this experience of being here has been incredible.”
“This is my second year doing the Canadian (championships) and I just love it.”
Trips to the world juniors, which wrapped up recently in Latvia, and the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta are used by the Rowing Association of Zimbabwe (RAZ) to reward up and coming rowers.
“They are so ‘chuffed’ to be here,” he said using a Zimbabwean expression for excited.
Zimbabwe didn’t enter the sixday regatta that started with heats Tuesday and will wrap up with finals Sunday with a goal of how many gold medals it want to take home.
“The idea is to get experience for these athletes because they are going to carry on rowing,” Cunha said. “To compete at a world-class like this will give them the experience they need to continue to progress.”
Except for Cunha, whose expenses are covered by RAZ, competing at the Henley will have cost each member of the contingent between about US$3,800 and US$4,400 by the time they get home, whenever that is.
While some fundraising, such as erg events and raffles, took place, most of the cost was borne by the athletes and their families.
“That may make up 10 per cent at max,” he said. “It’s really tough getting on tours like this financially.”
This is the first Henley for Derek Van Swegan, 17, who is in his third year rowing at the school level in Zimbabwe. He used to play rugby, one of the most popular sports in his country, but put team sports on the backburner once he discovered rowing.
“I really love the competition, it’s such a great atmosphere,” Van Swegan said. “You always feel everyone is striving after one goal: just to come first.”
“Rowing is where my heart is now.”
He said the trip would have been worth it even if he doesn’t advance and qualify to compete in a final.
“Oh, definitely, you don’t really get international experience just racing in Zimbabwe,” Van Swegan said. “Coming over here has opened my eyes.”
Steve Bass is filling two roles for Zimbabwe on his return visit to Henley. He’s the team manager and the No. 1 cheerleader of his 16-year-old daughter Lorryn, who is racing on Martindale Pond for the first time.
In Harare, where her father operates an air conditioning and commercial refrigeration company, she practises on a dam.
“On our course we don’t have buoys or lanes,” she said.
The Zimbabweans have been used to the course since arriving in St. Catharines a week ago Tuesday. They took a busman’s holiday to a plant in London, Ont., where Hudson rowing shells are produced.
Hudson is donating the seven singles and one double Zimbabwean crews will be using at the Henley. Bass said the shells were “generously” made available through the assistance of FISA, the flatwater sport’s international governing body.