ALICE – Four years after finishing last at the University Sport South Africa (Ussa) Boat Race, the University of Fort Hare men’s crew returns to Port Alfred this week with their sights firmly set on a top-four finish.
It was only four years ago that the University of Fort Hare’s men finished dead last at the University Sport South Africa Boat Race in Port Alfred.
Calling it a low point in the history of Fort Hare rowing would be doing an injustice to the term, the eight from Alice had hit rock bottom.
Yet now, a mere 48 months later, the team will challenge one of the strongest crews in the country for a place in the top four at the same regatta when it gets under way on 10 September.
Targeting UJ
While coach Lunga Mcetywa is realistic about the men’s chances of securing a podium spot with the “big three” of the University of Cape Town (UCT), University of Pretoria (UP) and Stellenbosch University (Maties) in the field, he believes they will be a threat to the University of Johannesburg (UJ) as they attempt to improve on their fifth-place finish in 2025.
The Johannesburg students may have considerable backing and a knowledgeable team of mentors to call on, but the Blues counter with a wealth of experience in their ranks.
The likes of Lisakhanya Mqalo, Isolethu Mona, Lukhanyo Sifo and Sibusiso Vabaza have rowed together for several years and know each other’s rhythms and styles almost as well as their own.
“We will be targeting UJ, definitely,” Mcetywa said.
“The guys believe they have it in them to beat them.”
International experience
Besides the strength in continuity these rowers bring to the table, several members have represented their country at international level.
Inga Bovu, Mona and Mqalo have all donned the green-and-gold at the African Beach Sprints, while Mona, Sifo and Isolethu Luniko are in the mix to be selected for this year’s World Beach Sprints in China.
Madibaz pose another threat
Though it is the Orange Army they will be hunting down on the Kowie, Mcetywa does not rule out the possibility of their Eastern Cape rivals, Nelson Mandela University (Madibaz), mounting a challenge of their own for the coveted fourth spot.
Despite the crew from Gqeberha suffering equipment damage during the recent floods that disrupted their preparation, the coach knows they have some powerful rowers in their eight.
“I wouldn’t count them out. Just based on their times, they have very strong guys there. We are neck-and-neck or just ahead of them, but we will see on Thursday,” Mcetywa said.
Women gaining experience
Fort Hare is also taking eight women to the Boat Race, where South Africa’s leading tertiary institutions annually battle for supremacy.
Unlike the men’s team, most of these women are novices and Mcetywa will use the regatta to blood them in the cut-and-thrust of Ussa competition.
By his own admission, Fort Hare did not have the best outing at the Ussa Sprints in the Western Cape back in April.
The inexperienced crew found the bad weather at Misverstand Dam difficult to negotiate, which saw them place eighth overall.
However, a training camp in June proved to be the spark they needed, and his charges have performed well on the water ever since.
Just how well will become clear when the regatta concludes on 12 September.
