{"id":228734,"date":"2020-01-30T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/228734\/a-weekend-of-excitement-at-rmb-vlc-national-sprints-regatta\/"},"modified":"2020-01-29T11:54:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T09:54:13","slug":"a-weekend-of-excitement-at-rmb-vlc-national-sprints-regatta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/sports-news\/2020\/01\/30\/a-weekend-of-excitement-at-rmb-vlc-national-sprints-regatta\/","title":{"rendered":"A weekend of excitement at RMB VLC National Sprints Regatta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victoria Lake was swamped with people as they gathered to witness this year\u2019s Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) VLC National Sprints Regatta on Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

Over 1 000 athletes participated in this year\u2019s regatta, which beat the record of 970 athletes who competed in last year\u2019s event.<\/p>

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Athletes from different schools, universities and rowing clubs came ready and prepared.<\/p>\n

Some of the divisions at the event included junior women\u2019s (JW) and junior men\u2019s (JM) u-14 to u-16, men\u2019s lightweight doubles, women\u2019s lightweight doubles, men\u2019s heavyweight doubles and many more.<\/p>

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Some of the schools that participated were St Benedict\u2019s College, St Stithians College, Jeppe High School for Boys, St John\u2019s College for Boys, Parktown Boys\u2019 High School, King Edward VII High School, Diocesan College, Germiston High School, Mondeor High School, Bishop Bavin School, Assumption Convent School, St Andrew\u2019s School for Girls, Holy Rosary School, St Mary\u2019s School, Waverley and Hilton College.<\/p>\n

The universities that participated were the University of Pretoria, the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Cape Town (UCT).<\/p>\n

The clubs that participated were Victoria Lake Club (VLC), Ravens Boat Club, Old Dunstonian Rowing Club, Wemmer Pan Rowing Club, Durban Rowing Club (DRC), Viking Rowing Club, Roodeplaat Rowing Club, Guildford Rowing Club, Soweto Rowing Club, Old Edwardian Boat Club, Rhodes University Boat Club and St Alban\u2019s Rowing Club.<\/p>\n

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This year was a special regatta as the RMB National Squad used it as part of their selection process to select a team for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game plan is to see who is going to sit in those doubles seats for the Olympics,\u201d said Blake Dyason, client manager at CN&CO, who also manages the RMB rowing sponsorship and public relations.<\/p>\n

The first RMB National Squad race was the men\u2019s heavyweight doubles, and in first place were Lawrence Brittain and Kyle Schoenbee.<\/p>\n

Brittain has been rowing for 10 years and won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, which took place in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

The crowd was excited for the next RMB National Squad race as it was the first time in regatta history that a women\u2019s lightweight double raced against the men\u2019s heavyweight B doubles.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s lightweight double, Kirsten MacDonald and Nicole van Wyk, took top honours in the race.<\/p>\n

Roger Barrow, the RMB National Squad coach, was extremely happy with the results.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really pushed the women\u2019s lightweight team. I knew they were capable of winning,\u201d said Barrow.<\/p>\n

Barrow aims to qualify a men\u2019s heavyweight four and the women\u2019s lightweight double scull boat at the World Cup Two in Lucerne, Switzerland, in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are normally three World Cups for rowing, but because this is an Olympic year there are only going to be two,\u201d said Dyason.<\/p>\n

A total of 175 races were completed during the regatta.<\/p>\n

For the full results of the RMB VLC National Sprints Regatta 2020 visit www.regattaresults.co.za.<\/p>\n