24th edition of South African Schools Boat Race 2024 set for Port Alfred

By Ed Goodier

The Standard Bank South African School’s Boat Race, hosted by St Andrew’s College will take place on 6 and 7 December in Port Alfred.

This year’s event will be the 24th edition, with the past 23 races all having taken place on the Kowie River.

Twenty-eight school and club crews, from across the country, are set to take part in what is one of the premier events for junior rowers in South Africa. It is a unique challenge for all the competitors as they must navigate the twists and turns and changing tides of the Kowie River, compared to normal rowing events which take place on a straight course over one or two kilometres.

 In the Junior Men’s event, racing over 5,5km, St Benedict’s College from Bedfordview in Johannesburg is the defending champion and has set the pace in Gauteng so far this season. The top crews from the Eastern and Western Cape hope to challenge them for the title they have now won for four consecutive years. Taking part for the first time in the Junior Men’s event is Soweto Rowing Club from Johannesburg.

St Mary’s School from Waverley, Johannesburg, has been the defending champion for nine consecutive years in the Junior Women’s race and will be out to defend their title once again. Newcomer to this event is Wemmer Pan Rowing Club from Johannesburg, as well as St Dunstan’s College, who returns to the competition for the first time since 2018. The Junior Women’s crews race covers a 4,2km course, starting from the corner of Centenary Park.

Makhanda schools – St Andrew’s College and the Diocesan School for Girls (DSG), will be represented at the event.

The St Andrew’s College crew will be looking to defend and improve on its strong 3rd place finish in 2023.

The selected crew comprises of the following boys:

Cox: Callum McMurray

Stroke: Zac Fletcher

7: Rafael Carrara

6: Chris Jarvis

5: James Jarvis

4: Jaryd Mattison

3: Alex Herbaut

2: Josh Herring

Bow: Matthew Theron

Reserves: Theresö Lesese, Olona Kamba, Jock Estcourt

The majority of the crew from the Diocesan School for Girls bring with them experience from last year’s event where they finished in 10th place overall. They will be looking to climb further up the rankings with a season’s experience behind them this year!

The DSG crew comprises of:

Stroke: Rachel Murray

3: Mila Wienand

2: Caitlyn Smith

1: Emily Palmer

Cox: Eve Wilken

Reserves: Jenna Calow and Ella Bartlett

The event is once again held at the Halyards Hotel and a small boat harbour, with crews arriving through the week leading up to the event. The first round of racing takes place on Friday, 6 December with all teams racing a time trial; Junior Women at 2pm and Junior Men at 4.30pm.

Based on the time trial results, crews are ranked into finals, which will take place from Saturday morning onwards, leading up to the A-finals for both events as the last races on Saturday afternoon.

The full programme of racing and further information can be found on the event website:
https://sasrurace.co.za/ as well as on our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram

Supersport Schools will be live-streaming the event on SuperSport Channel 216 as well as on the SuperSport Schools app.

Spectators are welcome to watch the racing from the many viewpoints on the river. There will also be a dedicated Spectator Zone at the Port Alfred Ski Club, both overlooking the finish line and showing the SuperSport Schools live-stream of the racing further upriver, as well as offering a great selection of food and drink.