Last year, Selborne College Rowing Club (SCRC) celebrated 100 years of rowing on the Buffalo River.
However, the club has broken with tradition and will be spending the next 100 years at Nahoon Dam, as part of efforts to ensure a sustainable future for the sport.
SCRC is the oldest rowing club in the country, was founded in 1922 and has become synonymous with the Buffalo River.
However, in the last year, rowing has cost the school more than R200,000, placing strain on the school’s funding model and shifting the financial burden to parents.
SCRC faced difficulties with the lease agreement at Buffalo River, which saw SCRC and other clubs paying R30,000 a year.
The club also faced increased theft and vandalism of their facilities.
Forced to choose between moving or discontinuing the sport, master of rowing, Dave Hartwanger said the club accepted that its longevity and survival in the next 100 years was no longer going to work at Buffalo River and have moved onto private land at Nahoon Dam that is also home to the Edu-Sport programmes run by Jono Kruger at The Cove.
Hartwanger said: “The move to Nahoon Dam has been a game changer because the dam is freshwater, meaning it safer and is removed from the urban environment.
“We are excited for our future at the dam because we are leasing the land from parties who share our vision of using sport as a tool to develop the youth.
“The money paid as part of our lease agreement will go towards upgrading the facilities.”
Kruger’s Edu-Sport programmes use rugby to develop the youth from underserved communities and schools and he welcomed the introduction of rowing at the dam.
Kruger said: “The template that we have for the rugby academy is what we want to scale and replicate in the rowing sector with SCRC.
“Mdantsane is a breadbasket for sports including boxing, running and rugby, but we have never been able to give the youth of Mdantsane access to water sports before.
“We believe that we could find the next Olympic rowers in Mdantsane and SCRC can play a part in enabling this.”
On May 10 2024, the SCRC will be hosting a golf day to raise funds for a boat shed, boat racking and jetty facilities. These facilities will cost R1m and are necessary to enable the rowers to train without losing time to assembling and disassembling boats.
Parent at the school, Johan Schutte said the efforts parents like him were investing the rowing club was for the club’s continuation for the next 100 years.
“To be a part of the long history of rowing at the school makes you feel part of something bigger.”
ELBA and SCRC will maintain their relationship even if the SCRC moves to Nahoon Dam given that the club will continue to participate in events including the Buffalo Regatta and ECRA Regatta.
ELBA said it has not received official notice yet from SCRC about vacating their bay and the club will continue to use the facilities at Buffalo River until further notice.
ELBA said: “There is a rental dispute between ELBA and Transnet and the matter is sub judice.
“We believe that an amicable solution will still be found.
“The ELBA committee has been working closely with officials from BCMM to test water, identify and isolate areas of risk and concern and to implement measures to improve water safety for our rowers.”
