The St Andrew’s College 1st Pair, comprising Michael Bennett and Matthew Kroon rowed to a convincing win in the Junior Open 1st Pairs on the opening day of the South African Schools Rowing Championships on Roodeplaat Dam, East of Pretoria, last weekend.
The St Andrew’s College 1st Pair, comprising Michael Bennett and Matthew Kroon rowed to a convincing win in the Junior Open 1st Pairs on the opening day of the South African Schools Rowing Championships on Roodeplaat Dam, East of Pretoria, last weekend.
The crew led from start to finish, outclassing their U19 rivals KES, who placed second. St John’s was third.
The duo remain unbeaten over the 2 000m Olympic distance this year and now stand a good chance of selection for the South African Junior Team to compete at the Junior World Championships in Lithuania in August.
The boat classes offered at the champs included eights, coxed fours, coxed quadruples, sculls, coxless pairs, doubles and singles skulls for the boys and coxed quadruple skulls, doubles, pairs and single skulls for the girls.
The age groups raced included Open (U19), U16, U15 and U14. The regatta has become the largest sporting event of its kind in Africa and more than 1 000 athletes compete over the three-day period.
The athletes represent 46 schools and clubs from all around South Africa, Zimbabwe and other neighbouring states.
Speaking of the St Andrew's results, coach Donovan Cech said, “All in all a much more successful year's results for St Andrew's Rowing Club, with good results across all age groups.”
