9 DSG girls spent a wonderful 5 days learning, re-learning and perfecting their rowing skills on the Kowie River, which flowed right past the house where they stayed in the Port Alfred marina.
The days started early for this determined bunch of girls, with a quad + cox, a double and a skull on the water by 07h30. Donovan Cech and Sarah Fisher-Hill, the coaches, followed the boats in rubber duckies, encouraging and giving advice on technique and rhythm, both essential in powering the boats forward. Hattie Edwards, a Grade 6 DSG pupil, and sister of Georgie Edwards who was on the camp, swapped in to the quad when they were on their return journeys , getting a feel for the intricacies which make up this demanding sport. The early morning sessions were often the best as the water was calm, the tide (this time), was low, and motor boats were absent.
Jenienne Curr and Kayleigh Scheepers, the talented and experienced rowers of the group on camp, lent stability and wisdom when rowing with the quad, and they soon fell back to their easy rhythm when rowing in their doubles pairing. Erryn Green and Carmen Nangolo enjoyed time skulling, and Lizzie Abel’s advice and directions were invaluable as the cox in the quad. Penny Vorster was always willing to assist, and her experience was an added bonus when she rowed in the quad. The junior girls, Silvie Van Onselen, Erryn and Carmen worked with a willingness to learn and try which kept everyone’s spirits buoyant and positive. After time to catch up on sleep, play table tennis and chat, in the middle of the day, a late afternoon session would see the girls back on the water, in different combinations. Early nights were the order of the day, after days of sun, some wind, and lots of healthy exercise!
The camp ran smoothly thanks to the unceasing efforts of Heidi Scheepers, Kayleigh’s mum, who organized meals (2 breakfasts are essential when rowing, I discovered!), supervised the washing up (the girls rallied with no complaints), and doctored the inevitable blisters and scraped skin wounds.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this happy, hard-working group of girls, and I look forward to seeing their skills improve as the season gets under way.
Ready for an early morning row Aiming for the jetty A quad with good rhythm!
(before it nearly sank)
Talented doubles pair, Erryn in the skull, with Sarah Lifting a boat out of the water
late afternoon and Silvie to lend a hand – all part of this sport, rowing
