THE hotly contested Heads regatta in East London was the culmination of the pre-Christmas races for the Eastern Cape rowing fraternity, and by far the most gruelling. Most events were held over a stamina-sapping 3km course, much longer than the Zwartkops Rowing Club regatta (500m) and Knysna regatta (1km).

Grey High again topped the number of wins at the race, with 22 from the 38 boys’ events. This makes it a clean sweep for the school so far this season.

Other participating schools teams at the Heads event included East London’s Selborne College and Clarendon High School for Girls, and Grahamstown’s St Andrew’s College and the Diocesan School for Girls (DSG). Participating clubs were Zwartkops Rowing Club and Nelson Mandela Township (Nemato) Rowing Club, a development team from Port Alfred.

At the Knysna Halfway regatta last month, east triumphed over west as rowers from both provinces battled it out on a 1000m course in the beautiful Belvidere Estate surroundings.

The final tally was 46 wins for Eastern Cape rowing clubs and 12 wins to Western Cape clubs.

From the 35 boys’ events, Grey High dominated, winning 22 of these events and the overall trophy. St Andrew’s won six, SACS five and Bishops two events. Despite some stiff competition from Bishops, Grey’s under-15 squad maintained their unbeaten lead, again winning every event in their age-group.

All told, Grey have scooped 67 events at the three regattas, while St Andrew’s, Selborne, Zwartkops and Nemato have won a total of 60 events between them.

“In particular, Grey has excelled in the small boats, consistently maintaining dominance in the single and double sculls events,” said Grey coach Nick Rowett. “In the larger boats, the eights and fours, St Andrews have been on top, with Selborne challenging them hard.

“Our aim is for the club to continue their success in the races after Christmas, which will culminate with the South African Schools Championships at the end of February.”