HAT-TRICK HEROES: UCT men’s A rowing team celebrate their hat-trick of wins over Tuks at the prize-giving ceremony in front of Halyards Hotel after their epic victory in the RMB University Boat Race final on the Kowie on Saturday. Picture: MARK CARRELS
The University of Cape Town men’s rowing team enforced their dominance over the Tuks rowing machine when they secured a hat-trick of wins (2023/24/25) in the annual RMB Universities Boat Race on the Kowie in the marquee A section final on Saturday.
In the women’s section, Tuks’ victory (20:32.3) by more than two minutes in their A final over UCT (22:53.8) as well as their B section first-place win over Maties, coupled with the men’s B section defeat of UCT, was something of a consolation for the once dominant Tuks men’s A’s.
Tuks though showed they are still a rowing tour de force when they won the Sean Kerr trophy for coming out tops in the overall standings, having amassed 584 points in total across the participating teams. The prize-giving ceremony was a hive of activity as all teams in colourful rowing attire converged on the Halyards Hotel grounds.
Prior to 2023 when UCT won the first race of their hat-trick of wins, Tuks already held a 13-year dominance of the race. UCT who finished in a time of 18:8.8, more than 24secs ahead of their rivals (18:43.7) fell behind from the starter’s gun but, with patience, skill and expert guidance from cox, Callum Mackenzie, managed to reel in their opponents.
UCT men’s captain, Noah du Randt, said their strength lay in teamwork ethic.
“I am proud of my team. I’ve got to give it to Tuks, they came up with their own strategy at the start today. They went out at full speed at the start and left us some way behind.
“But our boys managed to bring it back with the help of great work by Callum McKenzie, our cox … we managed to take an inside line on one of the corners and just stroke by stroke building it back, until we managed to pass them in clear water in to the Bay and had a huge lead going in to shipwreck corner,” said du Randt.
Tuks were still in high spirits despite the disappointment, with captain Jordan Craig saying a lot of planning had gone in to their start this year.
“We did have a good start … we managed to have a boat length-and-a-half lead on UCT; then they managed to start pressuring us coming up to killing fields; then we unfortunately weren’t able to hold on to them at that corner. We actually have had a good season this year; we train very hard … and we had some rowers rowing overseas this year. But there are still some aspects that we need to work on and do better at.”
Thursday’s heads races to determine placing for Friday’s and Saturday’s finals was a tough day at the office for all the rowers as a stiff breeze and an incoming tide made it a test of character for the rowers.
Tuks proved their pedigree when they made sure in Thursday’s heads showdown across both A & B sections of the men’s and women’s races, that they would be represented in Saturday’s final races for first and second, only losing in the A men’s finals to UCT in the end.
Tuks’ A women’s captain, Doné Erasmus, said the team were on a high after their run of eight victories.
“We are feeling great; we gave it 110% in our race and we were very ruthless from start to finish and I guess we all are just super happy – all the Tuks teams were amazing.”
Maties made a strong impact in the B section heads races to ensure they would fight to contest first and second spot in the women’s final (21:47.0) ending runners-up to Tuks (22:12.6). In the men’s A’s Maties (18:35.2) secured third spot by outclassing UJ (20:26.5) who finished fourth, to the finish line. Maties also finished third in the women’s A final ahead of Wits with the same result in the B men’s final ahead of UJ.
University Western Cape (UWC) held their own in the women’s A and B, finishing fifth and sixth respectively as well as the Men’s B races (fifth) while fighting it out to secure eighth spot in the A final. The upshot of the performances was that UWC earned two trophies – for the team with the “most gees” and development potential.
UFH finished a credible 5th in the men’s A division, ninth in the women’s B, while newcomers Walter Sisulu University finished ninth in the men’s A and a 7th spot in the women’s A.
Rhodes University once a regional powerhouse when it comes to rowing, ended 10th and last position in both the men’s and women’s A division.
Full results of all participating teams will be available on rowsa.co.za website
This article was first published in Talk of the Town, September 18, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays
