Cech and Di Clemente Back in the boat at South Africa's Champs

Don Cech and Ramon di Clemente training for the Men’s Championship pairs race

South Africa’s Olympic stars returned to the race course earlier this month for the 50th South African Championships. Olympic bronze medallists Donovan Cech and Ramon Di Clemente easily won the pair on their national course at the Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria. This was their seventh consecutive win for the duo in the event.

Di Clemente and Cech came back together in the pair in March of this year after taking a “lengthy” break following the Athens Olympics.

“I think I really needed the break,” says Di Clemente. “I am feeling a lot fresher mentally at the moment.”

Cech, who has a bulged disc in his back, used the time off to rest his back until the start of this year. “It’s still not much better, but we are working on it,” says Cech. Meanwhile he has been picking up a few scars from cycle racing including a tandem race with Tour de France rider Robbie Hunter. “I have been cycling a lot. I’ve entered a few races and crashed in all but one of them!”

The pair are planning on a low key 2005 season and will likely only race at the Royal Henley Regatta in Great Britain and then the World Championships. Di Clemente is looking towards the next Olympics while Cech is less clear about his future plans. “I will continue in the pair with Ramon this season,” he says.

At the South African champs Di Clemente and Cech also joined their club, the Old Edwardians, in the four and eight picking up two more gold medals with the eight finishing in first by four boat lengths. 

RowSA executive committee member Peter Heidstra said the numbers had increased at the championships from last year citing Cech and Di Clemente’s Olympic success as one of the reasons. “They have brought rowing to a broader spectrum of the South African public, and also increased the visibility of rowing both in the printed and electronic media throughout the country,” said Heidstra.

Rika Geyser accepting her trophy for a win in the Womens Championship Sculls from Tsholo Diale of Arivia.kom, her employer and sponsor

South Africa’s top woman rower Rika Geyser showed her class by comfortably winning the women’s single. Geyser raced internationally in the pair with Colleen Orsmond in 2002 and 2003 but switched to the single in 2004 when Orsmond retired. To get competition Geyser raced earlier this year at the Buffalo Regatta in the men’s single. She finished in the B final.

Geyser is setting her sights on the Beijing Olympics and will compete later this season at the final BearingPoint Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland.

One of the most exciting races of the championships came in the men’s single. Richard Gaddi held off two former Olympians to win in a race that only had two seconds between first and third. In second Gareth Costa was a member of the 1996 Olympic lightweight four, while third place getter, Ross Hawkins finished fifth in the lightweight four at Sydney.

The championships were also used as a selection regatta for the national junior team and winner of the junior men’s single Shaun Keeling was chosen after his comfortable win. Keeling raced last year at the World Rowing Junior Championships in the double and Heidstra sees him as developing into a world class sculler.

The regatta attracted 630 rowers from 29 clubs and also attracted the Rowing Association of Zimbabwe Junior squad.

For a complete list of results go to www.rowsa.co.za

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