Languages: 
The unforgettable heroics of Africa’s first black man who won gold at the 2012 London Olympic Games still linger at the back of the WSU team’s minds whenever they pick up a rowing paddle.
Although finishing sixth and seventh in both the men’s and women’s sections at this year’s USSA Championships held in Pretoria recently. After their insufficient last and second-last finish on the table, the WSU rowing team remains resilient and undeterred as they fully recognise that it’s very early days for rowing at the institution.
“Rowing was first established in 2019 at the university and this was our first national championship competition so we’re not ignorant – we know it’s going to take a very long time for us to reach the heights of some of our competitors. The USSA champs exposed us to a lot of good things and we learnt a lot of invaluable lessons going against other long-established university rowing programmes,” said team president Samukelisiwe Ntuli.
Ntuli, who’s been rowing for three years since joining the team in 2019, said primary to their strategy to improve the standard of rowing is to pique interest about the sport and subsequently recruit students in numbers, a scenario that will see the pool from which to choose rowers filling with raw talent.
Team manager McCarthur Wulana said plans are afoot for the team to go on a roadshow across all four campuses in a bid to create awareness about the sport and to recruit students.
“The rowing club seeks to bring sporting enthusiasts under one roof in pursuit of the one agenda – to bridge gaps and build cohesion amongst the university community under the common goal of seeing rowing grow,” said Wulana.
The team, exclusively made up of Buffalo City Campus students at the moment, has a 27-member team that trains at East London’s Buffalo River at least three times a week.
Wulana said students who are interested in joining the team must have a strong character built on important personal and physical traits such as perseverance, endurance, competitiveness, discipline and compassion.
One member of the WSU men’s rowing team and third-year Accountancy student, Nathi Mxhelo, said he joined rowing after his friends encouraged him to try the sport.
“Besides the physical benefits of being fit and healthy, I also enjoy being in unison with others and working as a team to achieve something. It teaches one to BE humble and learn to work with others in order to succeed,” said Mxhelo.
- Thando Cezula
