‘PA can host world event’
PORT Alfred could become a host venue for the World Beach Games if last weekend’s Royal St Andrews Easter Festival can be developed and grown into a multi-sport event that passes muster by the Association of National Olympic Committees (Anoc).
This was the word from South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Gideon Sam, who came to watch the events on Saturday.
He said South Africa was looking to host the World Beach Games under the auspices of Anoc, and Port Alfred had the potential of being a host venue.
The Royal St Andrews Easter Festival sporting extravaganza was a smashing success, with open water swimming, surfing, bodyboarding and rubber duck racing showcasing a variety of sports talent and providing a visual feast on Port Alfred’s beaches.
The festival was the brainchild of local organisers Zwelinzima Nkwinti and Dave Lawson, the first event under the banner of Amazing Events.
It was made possible by the generous sponsorship of flagship sponsor Royal St Andrews Hotel and other business sponsors.
Sam said when Nkwinti and Lawson approached him, he understood they would have to start out small, “but to host an international beach sport event you need just 10 sports – this event can grow”.
The weekend events kicked off with the Royal Alfred Marina Mile open water swimming race on Good Friday. Despite the chilly weather and a water temperature of 16°C, 33 brave souls took to the water from the Halyards Hotel jetty, then swam through the first canal of the marina and back along the main channel of the Kowie River to the finish at the small boat harbour slipway.
On Saturday there was plenty to see, with the West Beach Warfare bodyboarding championships taking place at West Beach, and on the other side of the river mouth, the East Beach Easter Surf Classic and rubber duck racing a little further down the beach.
In addition to the rubber duck circuit racing in the East beach surf on Saturday and Sunday, a highlight was the resurrected Barnacles Challenge, which saw the inflatables race from the Port Alfred Ski-boat Club out the Kowie River Mouth and in a circuit off West Beach and around Fountain Rocks.
The thrilling high speed race drew throngs of spectators on the east and west piers and lining the river banks.
At the opening ceremony last Friday night,
Lawson said when he and co-organiser Nkwinti got together to brainstorm a year ago it was with the goal of “getting tourism on track” and involving young people.
“We’ve got incredible beaches and an incredible river in a unique system,” he said, and the plan was to maximise use of that with an array of beach sports. There were also plans for beach volleyball and beach soccer, but on a more casual basis.
“Most of all, we want people to come back to Port Alfred,” Lawson said. “We’ve had incredible support from the mayor and his team. Thank you.”
Owner of the Royal St Andrews Hotel, the flagship sponsor, Martin Bekker said: “Everything begins with a dream and a vision. My dream was to expose as many people as possible to Port Alfred and make it a destination, not just a speck on a map.
“When I started developing the hotel, I was called all sorts of names. When Zweli and Dave started Amazing Events they were called palookas. We’ll commit to the Easter Festival for the next five years. As [life coach] Tania Adams said, ‘it’s the crazies that change the world’.”
The EC Sports Confederation’s Mkuleli Magada expressed enthusiasm and support for the event in his keynote address, saying that sport crosses over into tourism and economic and social development.
“We must grow this event bigger and better, and involve kids from disadvantaged areas to do sports they only see on TV,” he said.