Three Eastern Cape pupils recently did Eastern Cape Rowing and the region proud by excelling in the South African National Rowing Championships for senior, master and elite competitors at Roodeplaat Dam near Pretoria.
Competing for Eastern Cape, Rafael Carrara (St Andrew’s College) and Aiden Douglass (Grey High) won gold in the senior men’s B 2X double.
They then went on to come fifth in SA in the senior men’s A 2X double, pitting themselves against two Olympians and the South African double champions Chris Baxter and Paige Badenhorst and a Gauteng Rowing schools team.
East London fans will be treated to a feast of rowing at the 2026 Buffalo Regatta, as the organisers have added another event to the programme, which starts on Thursday.
In previous years at the oldest rowing competition in SA, the gathering of top schools, universities and club rowers on the Buffalo River had consisted of the Buffalo Regatta and the Selborne Sprints.
This year, the Coastal Shoot-out has been included on the menu, and the discipline is a contrast to traditional rowing.
It is a rough version of the sport and is performed on open water, featuring two main competitive disciplines, endurance rowing and beach sprints rowing.
These disciplines have been added to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Members of the SA Coastal Rowing team are expected to be part of the event.
The shoot-out will be on Friday and on Sunday.
The Selborne Sprints will also be on Friday, while the Buffalo Regatta heats take place on Thursday with the majority of the finals on Saturday.
The East London Boating Association’s Kate Godfrey said they wanted to raise awareness regarding the Coastal Shoot-out.
“We want people to come and try out aspects of the sport, not just the traditional rowing we know.
“Beach sprinting is part of the Olympics. We have done some events before, but we want people to get used to the concept more,” she said.
The Buffalo Regatta has been running for more than 140 years and is among SA’s longest-running competitive sporting events.
It is among the top events that bring revenue to the Buffalo City tourism sector.
Over the past five years, it has been dominated by the University of Pretoria.
In 2025, the major trophies were claimed by the institution’s rowers.
University rower Paige Badenhorst became the first recipient of the Oarsome Hare trophy after winning the senior women’s single sculls.
The Tuks foursome of Chloe Cresswell, Doné Erasmus, Courtney Westley and Katherine Williams became the inaugural quad to win the Power of the Pride title, awarded to the senior women’s four.
In the men’s section last year, SA Olympian Christopher Baxter of Tuks stripped Bales-Smith of his Silver Sculls title earned in 2024.
Tuks also won the Grand Challenge for the senior men’s coxless fours.
The Women’s Sculls promises to be a standout contest this weekend.
Though Badenhorst is touted to defend her titles due to her form after achieving an impressive 8th-place finish at the World Rowing Championships in China, she will face fierce competition from Westley.
Westley edged Badenhorst in a tight encounter at the recently held VLC Sprints.
Westley is also in hot international form after winning silver in the women’s pair at the World University Games, alongside Kat Williams.
Zimbabwean lightweight Erasmus is another name expected to have a go at the women’s individual title.
She was recently an A-finalist at the U23 World Championships.
The Baxter and Murray rivalry is expected to be in motion again for the men’s title.
They will be pushed hard by Troy Zillen and Damien Bonhage-Koen, who are dark horses.
St Andrew’s School for Girls, based on recent form, are favourites for the schoolgirls’ titles while, for the boys, St Benedict’s College are tipped to walk away with the title.
Additional reporting by NovusPressBulletin
Daily Dispatch
They beat a Western Cape schools team and a Row SA combination.
Adding to the achievement was the outstanding performance of Mila Wienand, who has enjoyed an extraordinary few weeks for DSG rowing.
After competing at the Senior Gauteng Championships a few weeks ago, Wienand took on the country’s best at Roodeplaat, stepping up into the women’s A double category, where she and her partner, Ntsako Shipalana, delivered an outstanding performance to claim gold.
An entourage of high-profile SA rowers and Olympians is expected to make its way to East London for a two-day rowing event and clinic aimed at growing the sport in the Eastern Cape.
The event is set to be hosted by Selborne College at the Cove in Nahoon Dam on November 28 and 29 and the Olympians will run an on-water and land-based clinic for all levels of rowers – from schoolboys to varsity crews.
It will be attended by 2012 Olympic gold medallist Sizwe Ndlovu, John Smith and 2016 Olympic silver medallist Shaun Keeling and Lawrence Brittain.
Ndlovu was the most senior member of the SA Lightweight Men’s Four crew, which rose to fame when they came from behind in the 2012 Olympic Regatta in London to win the first-ever rowing gold medal for South Africa.
Smith was also part of the men’s lightweight coxless four event in London. His other contribution to SA rowing was when he and James Thompson teamed up in the lightweight double sculls to claim the world championship gold in a world record in 2014.
While Keeling won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the men’s coxless pair with his partner Brittain. The duo finished the race in second place behind the New Zealand team that year. At the time, their podium finish was the third Olympic medal in the country’s rowing history.
Selborne College MIC of rowing, Graeme Mountfort, and Andrew Dewar, headmaster at Selborne, said the new chapter for the College’s Rowing.
The school made a surprising move just over a year ago and relocated from the Buffalo River venue of which they had used for decades and went to train and hold their events at the Nahoon Dam.
Mountfort said they have been working tirelessly to establish a world-class rowing facility in their new home.
He said the construction of 20m jetties was underway, with the first set to be launched in time for the event.
He added that there were plans in progress for boat racks and a secure boathouse shed
“Our long-term vision is to host regular school and varsity regattas at the dam,” Mountfort said.
“We are committed to ensuring that the sport not only survives but thrives for current and future athletes.
“This is not a fundraising event, it is an opportunity to grow and sustain rowing in the Eastern Cape, create awareness of the new facilities at Nahoon Dam, provide inspiration and world-class knowledge from Olympic athletes and build a rowing hub with the potential to become a premier regatta venue for SA.”
The 2012 Olympic gold medallist Ndlovu said: “I’m honoured to be part of your end-of-year function and contribute as a motivational speaker.
“Rowing has given me so much, and I would welcome the opportunity to share my journey and inspire young athletes to see what is possible through our sport.”
Wienand has subsequently been invited to trials at the National Selection Regatta in three weeks time. She will pair up in a double with Shipalana, from St Stithians, a remarkable opportunity at this level of the sport.
Should they perform well, they could earn the chance to represent SA at the U19 Championship Regatta in Bulgaria later this year.
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