By winning the John Waugh Rock the Boat Regatta at the Roodeplaat Dam on Saturday, the girls of St Mary’s School in Johannesburg certainly demonstrated what girls are capable of doing.

It was the second time in three years that a schools’ team managed to beat the senior rowers of the hpc’s Olympic squad and it again showed why this regatta is so unique. 

 

The John Waugh Rock the Boat Regatta is a concept that was brought to life by James Thompson and Matthew Brittain, two of hpc’s Olympic gold medal winners at the 2012 Olympic Games.
 

In layman’s terms, the formula is based on working out a percentage that compares the winning time of each team to the world record of the respective age group. This handicap system makes it equally possible for any age group or gender to win the coveted hpc 'High Performer of the Day' award.  The trophy is awarded to the highest performer out of all 800 athletes.  According to the formula the winning time (7 minutes 45.30 seconds) of the St Mary’s under-16 team, consisting of Jessica Schoonbee, Megan Hancock, Reitu Mokgele, Caitlin Bentley and Paige Crooks, converted to 95.83%.
 

“For St Mary’s to win overall they needed to beat the first team of St Stithians by more than 10 seconds in the final, which really took some doing”, explained Thompson.

James Mitchell and Daniel Carter, who came 5th at last year’s Junior World Championships in Hamburg, were officially second.  Their time of 7:07.33 converted to 94.68%.

The Olympians, John Smith (lightweight) and Shaun Keeling (heavyweight) teamed up (Mavric and Goose) to win their category in a time of 6:55.31, which converted to 93.52%.

Ursula Grobler, who competed in a single boat, won the coveted Waterman’s Trophy.  This should not come as a surprise, especially considering that the official race programme stated that: “Anyone with a World Record on an ergo is frankly terrifying.  She will crush the middle thousand and lead all but the toughest opposition to despair.”

 

According to Thompson, Grobler was the highest performing individual relative to the category record.

Interestingly, there is a bit of history attached to the Waterman Trophy.  According to Thompson, the plaque of a trophy of one of the oldest rowing regattas in the USA was used to make it.
 

But on Saturday it was definitely not only about winning.  The St Andrews Girl Parents, in partnership with Rock the Boat, cooked up a storm as part of a fund raising effort to help the Germiston High Rowing Club to buy some new equipment.  More than R10 000 was raised and the club was presented with a new rowing ergometer at the prize giving.
 

The Germiston Club has been a proud member of Rowing South Africa for many years.  However, a look at their equipment tells that they are currently battling to keep their bums in their boats.