It has been a busy two months.

Our congratulations are extended to the St Mary’s rowing club on winning the closely-contested SA Schools’ Boat Race 2017 and continuing the St Mary’s legacy of reigning champions of this race! The St Mary’s rowing club has won Boat Race a record 11 times which is an incredible achievement and testament to the sheer determination and hard work of the crew, coaches, parents and the club. The chosen athletes trained hard all through their examinations managing their time between studying and training.

The beginning of the year is marked with the St Mary’s rowing club heading out to Bronkhorspruit Dam for our training camp which heralds the final stretch of the rowing season. The girls worked extremely hard despite the extremely hot weather and supported one another when the camp became tough. The new U14 girls were a welcome injection of enthusiasm into our club.

It was also our matric girls’ last camp and, as such, they were treated to a delicious dinner cooked by their parents and a memorable bonfire with singing and toasting of marshmallows. We wish them their best rowing yet as they finish this season.

On 20 January, the St Mary’s rowing club participated in the St Alban’s regatta held at Roodeplaat Dam. This was a senior regatta consisting of the U16s and Opens. The day’s racing produced some good results even though the temperature soared around 35 degrees. St Mary’s rowers are tenacious and always strive to get faster and push harder.

The St Mary’s rowing club participated in the Victoria Lake Club Sprints this past weekend. The first day of the sprints consisted of sculling heats along with all the U14 and U15 events. The last day consisted of sculling finals and the senior age group events. Racing at this event is slightly different from other regattas in that school rowers get to race against university students and test themselves. The weekend was an overall success for the St Mary’s rowing club as it was awarded the Open sculls award, the Open octuple award and the Open age group won the age group trophy.

The St Mary’s rowing club will be competing in the annual Rock the Boat regatta on Saturday 3 February at Roodeplaat Dam. We look forward to seeing all the amazing outfits that the girls will be wearing and, hopefully, an excellent day of racing as well.

“You’re not going to enjoy every minute of the journey, but the success you’ll find at the end, will make it all worth it” – Muhammad Ali

CATHERINE MCCONNELL
FORM IV