1st VIII win boat race!!!

The King Edward VII School 1st VII won the Old Mutual Schools Boat Race on Sunday 5 December 2010 making history as the first KES crew to win the prestigious event. Now in its tenth year, the event attracts the 1st teams from all rowing schools in South Africa.

The Oxford - Cambridge style of race format is somewhat different from the 2km sprints that we are used to. The heats which take place on Saturday are time trials - each crew posting a time against the stopwatch. After this, based on the ranking from these heat times, boats are paired off into finals. In this case, we raced against Bishop Bavin School in the A Final.

This year a very strong incoming tide and near gale force wind in places made the race extremely tactical. Our crew managed to ward of repeated pushes from their opponents to make it a nail biting affair: A mere 5 seconds separating the two crews over 24 minutes of racing - it was incredible!

This is an outstanding result for a crew that has had humble beginnings this season. The crew is relatively small, but make up for that with excellent rhythm and cohesion. The unit has 5 senior opens (Grade 11) who were sitting in the stern, as well as one junior open (Grade 10) and 2 under sixteen athletes. A great deal of credit must go to the Nicholas Tickle who showed tactical insight of a very experienced cox in only in his first season of rowing.

Congratulations!

A picture album will follow shortly... Click on the albums to the right of this blog

SCHOOLS BOATRACE!

Its Boatrace time again…

The KES 1st eight has been hard at work on the Vaal River and are ready for some hard racing in Port Alfred on the Kowie River.
The event, now in its 10th year will once again be hosting school 1st teams in the form of boys eights and girls quads.

It is difficult to say who will be in the mix this year, but the Gauteng contingent will be fighting it out after the close racing at Gauteng Champs a month ago. The St. Benedicts crew has been dominant so far, but has not yet been pitted against the crews from SACS (last years SA Champs winners) and St. Andrews College Grahamstown (Hosts and Silver at SA Champs). Bishops could also be dark horses this year, with some strong boys back from last year’s quality combination.
No one is writing off the gaggle that have been chasing Bennies in Joburg either - that would be St Stithians, St Johns, KES, Parktown and Jeppe. Bishop Bavin are also bound to be quick, putting some strong small boat specialists into the eight for this prestigious event.

The heats are on Saturday the 4th of December. It is a head race against the clock, starting 30 seconds apart in last years finishing order. Based on the heat times, crews will then be paired into finals.

Last years results were as follows and this is the starting order for the heats,

A FINAL Abingdon (UK) beat SACS
B FINAL King Edward VII beat St Benedict's
C FINAL St Andrew's beat St John's
D FINAL Selbourne beat Bishop Bavin
E FINAL Somerset College beat St Stithian's
F FINAL Bishops beat Jeppe Boys
G FINAL Rondebosch Boys beat Parktown Boys
H FINAL St Alban's beat Grey High
I FINAL Nemato/Abingdon beat Mondeor

For more information go to www.sasru.co.za

Go School!

World Championships

Tony Paladin (far left), old boy from 2000, represented South Africa at the World Championships this year. Tony has made a late comeback, replacing Matt Brittain who suffered a back injury recently and is rehabilitating after surgery. That is not to say Tony will give up his seat now: These seats are very hard to come by. Tony did SA proud, bringing some experience to the unit - they tussled with current olympic champions Denmark in the B final.
The newly formed unit seems bound for a good year in the 2011 season where they will race for olympic qualification. It is likely that they will go back into squad formation for a period now.
The lightweight coxless four, known to be one of the most fiercely contested events is definitely worth following. Have a look ... www.worldrowing.com for coverage of this and all international rowing.
Tony is not the only KES boy involved at this level, Dustyn Butler is the assistant National Coach and is working hard with Olympic Squad (including this four), as well as athletes that are being developed.
Have a look at the SA Team rowing blog for more insight http://web.me.com/barrowrow/Site/Home.html

Gauteng Champs: Sunday 31st October

The 1st eight struggled to hold speed over the second 1000m on Sunday, stiffening up and shortening a bit. Saints and Bennies took full advantage, but remain wary of our crew. A few seconds closer to bennies that we were last week - 9 seconds - unfortunately Saints and St. Johns pushed their way between us and the leaders this week.
Needless to say, the boys were disappointed. The KES will have to make up for what they lack in raw horsepower with guts, determination and efficient rowing this year. I am confident that they will move forward as the technical execution of the stroke improves.
Our new sculler and bowman in the eight, U17: McDonough finished 11th overall in the 1st singles trophy. Matthew Kelly also placed a very credible 13th overall. This was a respectable result which he is focused on improving into the season. Unfortunately the pair could not race due to a clash with the fours event in the programme.
On a whole, it has been a pleasure working with such focused athletes - and we look forward to the second half of the season. We back you gents!

Besides the 1st squad, the 2nd eight has come on in leaps and bounds. Again, lacking a bit of raw grunt – they have made strides towards the medals, missing St Stithians in the bronze medal spot by less than a second. Not only the eight, but fours and quads have come on substantially.

We had some encouraging results from all other age groups as well. The U16 quad placed 4th, showing a lot of improvement from last week. The first medal of the day came in the form of the u14 quad (silver). Incidentally, an event which we fielded 3 boats in the “A” final! Well done juniors! Viadana and his partner also managed bronze in the U14 doubles. So overall for the regatta, our junior boys (u14’s) were outstanding.

In U15, the respective A and B u15 octopul combinations were 5th (in A final) and 4the (in B final). Dos Santos was 10th overall in the single scull championship – this was his debut in this event. Daniel Kelly, our regular sculler placed 7th overall.
Once again, we must believe in this group – the future is in their hands. Concentrate on the basics and keep things simple. With the horse power on tap, increasing the efficiency and cohesion will bear fruit not only this year, but more so into the senior age groups. Progress of the kids is a process - this needs to be understood by all.

For those of you that are involved and supporting the club, thank you!

World Rowing Championships 2010

Follow the National Team at the World Championships 2010 this week in New Zealand (Lake Karapiro) on their Blog http://web.me.com/barrowrow/Site/Blog_NZ_2010/Blog_NZ_2010.html

RSA have 2 crews entered: Mens Lightweight Coxless Four [LM4-] and Mens Pair [M2-].

Live internet results on www.worldrowing.com.

Gauteng Championships: Saturday Finals

A good day for KES today. Row of the day has to go to the u16 eight, which has improved at least 30secs relative to the field since last weeks race! Including a few novices (who started rowing on Sept Camp), the crew powered into silver today showing a huge amount of mettle. The u16 age group has shown great character so far this season, having had to deal with losing two of their top oarsmen to the 1st eight since September. That is never easy, but their ability to "make a plan" has been tremendous to watch and we applaud them. We now look on eagerly at what they can do this season, having proven to themselves today that they are a force to be reckoned with.
Mention must also go to the pair of Botes and Barclay (from the same eight) who managed bronze today. Their rowing in the pair has improved significantly in the past few weeks.

The u14 octuple also bagged the silver today behind Bennies. This is their first big result of the season. Hats off to the coaches and boys, who have done some sterling work! These boys are not even at KES yet, having started their rowing merely a month ago…

The u15's had a good day too, showing improvement in the quads. No medals for them today, but good to see 2 quads in the A final. This age group has a mass of potential and depth. We wish them all the best for the octuple tomorrow.

In the open age group, the 1st quad climbed the ladder, from 8th last week to fifth. The first four managed bronze - also a significant improvement since last week (5th). Both of these crews showed some grit today. With sole focus on the eight in preparation in the last month, these crews feel they have more speed to come with some time in small boats.

The championship format means that there are only A events. Some of our B crews that were entered raced particularly well. 2nd four, 2nd quad had good rows today, as did the u15B quad.

Tomorrow looks like it could be a cracker and we are looking forward to it. Racing starts at 8 and ends around 2.30pm (weather permitting!!).

Gauteng Champs 2010

Tomorrow and Sunday promise to be very exiting racing.
Since camp, starting about 1 month after the private schools, all age groups have shown a great amount of promise.

The U15's have great depth and hopefully can put together some good races this weekend. We are now just short of 3 octuples, which is some kind of record I'm sure!

u14's too, have a lot of boys. There are some very motivated youngsters who will be attending their first championship regatta. Very keen! awesome to see! Well done to coaches Cal and Attie - definitely taken a big step forward in the past 2 weeks.

The u16's bring a new combination along on Saturday, complete with some talented novices that are soaking up the coaching. 2 eights are entered in u16.

The open crews look to have had a good week and we are hoping to move up a few notches. The 1st eights race last weekend saw us getting within a length of the strong Bennies crew. A good result, that all the boys are looking to improve into the season.

Go school!

January Camp 2011

Our January camp will be held from Saturday 04th January 2011 to Friday 10th January 2011 at Roodeplaat dam. Real term, we will have two months before the South African School Championships and if we are to do well at this regatta we need to be a lot more focussed going into the new year.

Boys will be on holiday shortly after the end of November, so we will not be able to track boys down at school to check attendance. Your co-operation in returning forms promptly will really help us with planning.

Wemmer Sprints 2010

We had good results from the Wemmer Sprint Regatta this past Saturday. Unfortunately not all our boys could participate due to the weather and then later suspending the rest of the days racing.

Nonetheless – here are a few of our boys results:

JM14B 1X : Spark: 1st, Keanne: 4th,
JM15C 1X : Abader: 1st
JM15B 1X : Dos Santos: 1st
JM15B 1X : McCann: 2nd
JM14 A/C2X : Mitchell : 1st
JM15C 4X : Tinney: 1st, Fourie: 3rd
JM15A 1X : Kelly: 2nd
JM15 B4X : Roux: 1st, Abader: 4th
JM15A 4X : McCann: 5th
JM14B 4X : Nadas: 2nd
JM15B 8X : Abader: 1st
MB 4X : Tinney: 1st
JM14 A4X : Read: 2nd
MA 8+: Hornsey: 2nd

See you at St Dunstan’s Regatta on Saturday.

St Dunstan’s Regatta:
On Saturday 16th October we will be racing at the St Dunstan’s regatta at Roodeplaat. This event is a junior U14 and U15 event so we anticipate that the day should end early. We have not as yet received the draw so are unfortunately unable to confirm exact times. We will confirm details once we have received the draw. A bus will leave the school at 06h00 for any boys needing a lift.

Holy Rosary Regatta:
Saturday 23rd October sees the Open and Under 16 boys competing at the Holy Rosary Regatta at Roodeplaat. This allows our junior boys and parents the weekend off which I’m sure will be most welcome. We may schedule training on the Saturday morning at Wemmer Pan but will confirm this closer to the time.

Cheers!

September Camp

Camp ran from 23rd to 27th September. We had a record attendance of 96 boys, including 32 grade 7’s that are yet to start at KES next year. It really was a fun camp – the new boys seemed to come out of their shells and skits night on Sunday was classic.
The club also has a large number of novices from school in grade 8-11. Definitely a good sign to have so much interest in the club at school... The coaches are getting stuck in to try and get them to speed in a hurry. No pressure :)

The days flew past, but it seemed to be a productive camp for all age groups. The 1st team squad also rowed on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday before we returned to school, playing a bit of time catchup with private schools that started rowing a month ago. The crews are to be finalised this week and some will race at Wemmer this weekend. It is a Junior Regatta (u14 and u15) as well as Seniors - Sn A, B etc.

During camp we also elected the leaders for the club and this year we have made an exception and have two vice captains. The open group as a whole is showing good leadership - and will hopefully lead by example this year.

Old Boys Dinner 22nd September 2010

The Old boys’ dinner was hopefully the first of many. We had a quality gathering at Old Eds, where plenty of stories from the “good old days” came to light. The dinner served both to re-establish ties with the old boy network - and also as a simple gathering for old crew mates to take a trip down memory lane.
We challenged each of those present to round up 5 people for the next get together, which hopefully will rapidly increase interest in the club.

K.E.S. Rowing has become a force once again in the past few years, but it is the plan to move into a more dominant position in the next 5 year cycle. We want the old boys to be a part of this revival – as it is the establishment of the club by all of you that allows us to do what we do today.

Under the guidance of the school, it is not only important that the school benefits from your support (in whatever shape or form); but also that you get something from seeing our club (and boys) succeed and strive. We want old boys to feel that they have something to do with the club, not only in the past.

ARES, our new pair!

Last week Tuesday saw the naming of ARES (our new John Waugh Pair Oar) by legendary “rowing mom” Felicity Fussell. Two of her four sons were at the ceremony: Andrew, who rowed for South Africa in the early nineties - and James who is actively involved in rowing and officiating to this day. Mr. Fussell Senior, otherwise known as “Bob”, was also in attendance, proud of his families’ strong contribution to rowing and to the school over the years.

The pair was kindly donated by an anonymous old boy. This is an important step for the club, having been short of a quality pair for many years. It will allow more specialisation in this boat class, not only bringing more points at regattas, but also giving our boys a better chance to perform in National Squad trials in March next year.

The boat was unveiled at a special ceremony at the Rob Wray Pavilion last Tuesday night, after which Parents and a few old boys shared stories in the pavilion over a few quiet drinks.

Thank you again to all that were involved, it was really memorable evening.

ROWING OLD BOYS DINNER

In The Family Room at Old Edwardians Club:
Corner 11th Avenue and 4th Street Houghton
On Wednesday 22 September 2010

At 19h00 for 19h30

Gentlemen only

Dress Code: Jacket and Tie

RSVP: Julie Steinhobel on 0789235985 or at juliesteinhobel@gmail.com

Cost R250 per person

We are trying to re-establish contact with our old boy network and would really appreciate as much support as we can get. The club is currently resurgent and we think it is important for the current boys to get to know their roots. Many of us found rowing to be the best part of our experience at school and that it has shaped our lives to a large extent.
Lets get together and remember some of the good times.

South African Junior Rowing Championships Results 2010

Overall, King Edward placed 4th in the overall boy’s club trophy and took eight medals, the same number as last year. Amongst many fine results, the following crews were awarded Championship medals:

U14 Octopul (Bronze)
U15 Octopul (Bronze)
U15 Quad (Bronze)
U16 Double Scull (Silver)
U16 Quad (Bronze)
2nd Eight (Bronze)
1st Four (Silver)
1st Eight (Bronze)

The rowing club ends off a good season showing good promise across all age groups. In the flagship event, the 1st eight retain their position as fastest Gauteng crew. Very disappointed not to win it, the 1st eight fought well in an exceptionally close final. Crossing the finish line just behind SACS and St. Andrews College, there were only 2 seconds separating the medallists over the 6 minute race.

For a full set of results go to http://www.regatta.co.za/

Thank you to all our supporters over this season, we look forward to seeing you later in 2010.