With the South African National Rowing Championship (30 April – 1 May in Pretoria) fast approaching, Grahamstown-born Rhodes rower Bradley Betts is looking to continue his scintillating form as he leads the charge to put Eastern Cape rowing in the spotlight.
With the South African National Rowing Championship (30 April – 1 May in Pretoria) fast approaching, Grahamstown-born Rhodes rower Bradley Betts is looking to continue his scintillating form as he leads the charge to put Eastern Cape rowing in the spotlight.
After winning the men’s double scull at the Gauteng Senior Champs on 16 April along with UCT’s Kyle Schoonbee, Betts reflected on his success – a culmination of eight years of hard work since the self-proclaimed “Eastern Cape born and bred” rower took up the sport at Grey High School.
“The whole reason for [participating in]the Gauteng Champs was for us to be noticed [by national selectors], because Eastern Cape rowing is kind of shoved to the side by the rest of the rowing provinces,” said Betts – particularly aggrieved by Gauteng’s dominance in terms of rowing schools and high performance centres.
Last year, Betts and the rest of the Rhodes Coxless A four (Nick Greeff; Murray Roodt; and Tristan Wentworth, who is no longer in the club) took a big step towards challenging Gauteng’s dominance when they represented South Africa at the Universiade Gwangju. This saw them pitted against the world’s best student rowers.
Although the Rhodes rowers finished last in their race in Gwangju, Betts’ desire to compete against the best remains as strong as ever.
As the national selection regatta (14-15 May in Johannesburg) draws nearer, his goals are clear: He wants to row for South Africa in the U23 World Championships (21-28 August in Rotterdam and the World University Championships (2-4 September in Poland).
Betts is not the only Rhodes rower hoping to compete on the international stage this year. Fellow heavyweight competitors Greeff and Oscar Hobson and lightweight Murray Bales-Smith will lead the pack for the men at the South African Championship.
Namibian heavyweight women’s rower Maike Diekmann continues to train with the club’s leading men and will compete at SA champs despite not being in contention to row for South Africa.
Rhodes men’s captain Thomas Lungu expressed confidence that their rowers competing for national positions were well-prepared. He said: “The guys have trained hard… I trust that they will produce excellent results in all their racing. The success of the top guys brings hope in our training.”
Lungu praised the top Rhodes rowers for succeeding against competitors from “bigger, better-funded clubs” and giving novices and outsiders thinking of joining the club a glimpse of what they could achieve.
For junior rowers looking to emulate Betts, the Gauteng champion had a simple message: “It comes down to just hard work. Talent is such a small part of rowing. It’s really just the hours that you put into it.”
