SAC Rowing on a high
Iarrived at the St. Andrew’s College ergo room at 5pm on Monday, all set to interview the St Andrew’s College rowers who had bestowed glory upon their school at the South African Schools’ Rowing Championship at Roodeplaat Dam (3-5 March), winning three gold medals.
Unfortunately, I had failed to consider that St. Andrew’s Rowing was no ordinary club - and that these were no ordinary rowers.
I had expected training to finish at the time of my arrival. However, from the outside, it appeared that they trained according to a rule along the lines of “row on the machines until you have absolutely nothing left in the tank”.
Many boys collapsed as soon as they finished their sessions. Some had looked as if they were on the verge of it for some time, but persisted nonetheless.
Eventually, Head Coach Chris Holliday introduced me to Rorke Wilson, Dane van Duren, Henry Torr, Mitchell de Kock, Alex Holmes, and Michael Thomas - all from the First VIII that had won gold at SA Champs. (Their team- mates, Josh Warneke; Matt Harris; and cox Alex Pezzaro; were not present at the interview.)
The legacy of the club was certainly not lost on the young rowers.
Torr cited Old Andrean and South African Olympic Rower Jake Green as an inspiration to him, while De Kock bestowed similar praise among 2012 gold medallist James Thompson - also from St. Andrew’s.
Holmes, meanwhile, described both as his role models. However, the highest praise was reserved for Thompson.
Wilson said a conversation between him and the Olympic star, who was sharing a flight with him, convinced him to take up rowing.
“[When Thompson visited last year], he remembered me and we spoke about how far I had come since then,” he said.
Thompson and Green are not the only Old Andreans who have inspired the school’s current crop of rowers. Holliday, who matriculated at the school in 2004, was hailed by Thomas as integral to their success. “The club has certainly completely turned around since he came here.
“As an Old Andrean, he was at the club in its golden years, when we won everything. The club took a little bit of a downhill and he’s definitely brought us up,” he said.
Off the back of their recent success, confidence among the rowers is soaring.
When asked whether or not he thought any current St Andrew’s rowers could go on to emulate Green and Thomp- son, Van Duren gave a telling answer: “I think there are a few in this rowing club [with the potential to]. It would be quite nice to see some of my mates [at the Olympics] and to be there myself.”
While there is a long road ahead for any St Andrew’s rower seeking to scale the heights reached by their most famous rowing stars, theirs is a club that has certainly never been hurt by daring to dream.