Universities Boat Race on the Kowie breaking new ground

More than 360 men’s and women rowers are ready to create another rowing spectacle when the 2025 RMB Universities’ Boat Race churns up Port Alfred’s Kowie River this week.

USSA board trustee Gordon Dodge, who is also the regatta’s chief race umpire, says it’s all systems go for the three-day annual event that starts off with qualifying heats on Thursday September 11 and finishes with what promises to be a thrilling final on Saturday September 13.

UCT will be going all out to make it a three-in-a-row hat-trick in the 2025 edition, with Tuks’s crack rowing team who were second last year, continuing their intense rivalry over many years with the champions, and others such as Wits, University of Johannesburg, (UJ) University Western Cape (UWC), Nelson Mandela (NMU) and Rhodes Universities, among them, eager to make a fist of it.

The race is a showcase of South Africa’s future rowing stars, many of whom have already competed on the world stage and are poised to become the next generation of national team athletes. Rowers fresh from the World University Games in Germany and U23 World Rowing Championships will line up on the Kowie.

“We have seen growth in the sport of rowing from the universities’ side, for example UWC has made an investment in the sport which is paying off. Wits is much stronger this year and of course UCT, and Tuks and others are showing sustained growth and form,” said Dodge.

The race doesn’t follow the normal standard of a 2.2km flat race but presents an intense challenge for the men and women rowers over a distance of 5.5km.

“Every year throws up something different on the Kowie, with its tight 90-degree corners, sandbanks (and the notorious ‘killing fields’),” said Dodge. It doesn’t cover the standard distance of a normal rowing race but it’s the challenge that makes it interesting,” he added. “The wind (we always expect some wind) …and that together with any wave motion in the river are the two aspects that make it extremely arduous, but the rowers are up for the challenge.”

Dodge said safety on and outside the water is always top priority and the collaboration from Port Alfred’s security cluster to safeguard boats, assistance from river safety officials, the municipality, Halyards accommodation and general hospitality is always top-class.

Tuks women’s team, the standard-bearer of the sport among universities in the women’s section, will once again field a full strength team as they defend their overall title. UJ who improved in leaps and bounds after placing second last year behind the formidable Tuks following their fourth placing in the 2023 race, will be chomping at the bit to take the fight to their rivals. Stellenbosch, Wits and UWC will field multiple women’s crews for the first time in a number of years, underlining the rapid growth of the women’s sport.

Walter Sisulu University makes its debut with both men and women’s A crews, while Maties arrive as reigning sprint champions with five national squad rowers on board.

The field includes standout international competitors such as Chloe Cresswell, silver medallist at the U23 World Championships, racing for Tuks in the women’s 8+. Others are Done Erasmus, who was  a Zimbabwean finalist at the same event.

Returning athletes from Germany’s University World Games will also strengthen the UCT, Stellenbosch and Tuks line-ups. Together, they represent the sport’s growing depth and SA’s pathway to future Olympic squads.

As headline sponsor, RMB’s commitment spans grassroots to elite levels, ensuring rowing continues to grow as a competitive, accessible sport across South Africa. Their support has turned the RMB Universities Boat Race into more than a regatta – it’s a launchpad for future champions.

Sponsorships Marketing Lead Michael Edwards said they have had a rowing partnership with Rowing SA for the past 10 years.

“It’s been a powerful partnership, sponsoring the regatta, the national squad, schools national champs and Buffalo Regatta. This is a partnership that is transforming the sport from the grassroots to the very top,” said Edwards.

“With the university boat race, that bridge between schools and a potential  career or professional pursuit of your passion is so critical.  I had the opportunity for the first time last year to attend the race and the first time I set foot on the banks of the Kowie and the Halyards, I was blown away by the event and the community around it.

“The students are such an important part of society … they a positive and optimistic. No one does it better than SA students  and we were blown away by the spriit of unity and camaraderie. It’s been great working with the partners like Halyards, the town and Rowing SA.”

“The best example of team sports, and nothing in my mind stands out more when it comes to being more reliant on the person next to you, than rowing. It buys in to the RMB’s philosopy about working together in uniform fashion,” added Edwards

Teams will start arriving today [Sunday] for the Kowie River rowing spectacle.