Fiery fare in Selborne Sprints
UNIVERSITY, school and club crews battled it out yesterday in the Selborne Sprints.
However, the races were strictly student only, so the elite athletes like Olympian Sizwe Lawrence Ndlovu will only be racing today.
There was no room for mistakes as races took place over a short distance of 500m.
In heat one of the men’s scull heats there was a tussle between lane one and two, but Tuks in lane four managed to pull away, leaving the two University of Joburg boats to battle it out for second. The UJ lane one boat clinched second and the lane five UJ boat secured third.
In heat two a tight race saw Rhodes secure first and third while UJ claimed second.
Heat one of the junior men under 15 quad race saw Clarendon competing with the boys. St Johns, stroked by Jordyn Henning, came in first with St Albans crossing second. Clarendon managed to hold third for a portion of the race but was in the end beaten out by Grey and placed fifth.
The junior men U19 first coxless four heats had the audience sitting on the edge of their seats.
Heat one saw an insanely tight race with just a bow ball separating most places. SACS, stroked by Matthew Nordoff, managed to steal first, with St Benedicts hot on their heels coming in second and Bishops clinching third.
Heat two was another very close race with St Johns, stroked by Matthew Chamberlin, pulling through St Benedicts in front of the finish line to claim first. Parktown was close behind to cross third.
The second heat of the junior men U15 double brought a suprise when Clarendon, stroked by Macayla Potgeiter, came in second after St Albans, beating all the other boys crews. St Johns came in third.
The same age group from Clarendon competed in the first heat of the junior men U15 eight race. Stroked by Demi Maker, they just missed out on third, losing to Grey.
In heat one of the junior men first eight race the crews were neck and neck until about 100m left when SACS, stroked by Matthew Nordoff, begun to pull away, securing first. Right on their tail was Selborne in second and St Benedicts in third.
The second heat was almost as tight, with St Johns, stroked by Chamberlin, coming in first, St Andrew’s in second and Bishops in third.
After the officials break the wind once again came in to play and caused considerably rougher water than the morning, just in time for the day’s finals.
Despite this the junior women first eight final was an exciting race, with St Stithians just besting Clarendon after a tough fight, and Holy Rosary coming third.
The men’s scull final saw the Tuks sculler, Ryan Delaney, come out as the clear winner, with Rhodes claiming second and third.
In the junior women U19 first coxed four race, St Andrew’s girls coming first, Holy Rosary second and St Marys third.
The women eight final race was tight, with Tuks pulling away in front of the finish to clinch first.
In the men’s coxless four final the Rhodes lane four boat was the clear winner.
The final of the junior men U19 coxless four saw SACS, stroked by Nordoff, come first.
In the women coxless four final Tuks, stroked by Jessica King, made winning look easy.
The final for the men’s eight race was hotly contested, with Rhodes securing a first place, UCT second and Tuks third.
The last race of the day saw, the junior men U19 eight final, St Andrew’s came out victorious.
In the final tally, St Johns College was the top boys school with 70 points and St Andrew’s Girls School was the top, with 67 points.