Three golds for St Andrew’s at SA rowing

St Andrew’s College claimed an impressive three gold medals at the South African Schools’ Rowing Championships held at Roodeplaat Dam on 3-5 March.

Two of these were won in the junior men’s 8+, which St Andrew’s dominated. Both their first and second eights claimed first-place finishes. These were complemented by a SA Champs course record from Jason Thomas in the U15 single sculls.

The first VIII claimed victory in 6 minutes 7,87 seconds – beating King Edward School by 4,52 seconds. Meanwhile, St Andrew's second VIII finished in 6:32,92 to claim victory by 3,09 seconds over the same rivals as the firsts.

Despite Thomas’s sensational pace in his record-breaking gold medal victory, his time of 3:29,88 put him just 0.93 seconds ahead of his team-mate, Brendan Mouritzen.

St Andrew’s picked up four silver medals in total, as well as one bronze – taking their medal tally for the competition to eight.

A school with a proud record of producing top rowers – including 2012 Olympic gold medallist James Thompson - they showed promising signs for the future, despite competing far from home, near Pretoria.

According to a press release from the school, they had to overcome a challenging altitude and a difficult week leading up to the tournament – in- cluding an armed robbery at the venue at which they were accommodated.

Their will to overcome trying circumstances pleased head coach Chris Holliday, who said: “I am probably more proud of the resilience and grit that the boys displayed over the last week than the actual results achieved.”

Meanwhile, the Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) claimed a respectable second place in the B final of the junior women’s U/19 4+.

Grahamstown rowing was once again well-represented among the country’s elite and, with youngsters such as Thomas and Mouritzen coming through the ranks, looks set for a host of triumphs in years to come.