Rowing on the Zambezi

By Melissa Bray

Just a few kilometres upriver from Zimbabwe’s famous Victoria Falls a small but enthusiastic rowing community gathered in September for the country’s most popular annual regatta, the Victoria Falls Regatta.

This is no ordinary regatta. The rowers get to share the course with hippopotami, elephants and crocodiles and post-regatta activities include game watching and white water rafting on the Zambezi River.

FISA’s development consultant Colleen Orsmond recently travelled to Zimbabwe for the regatta and was impressed by the local rowing community’s creativity in making the most of available conditions and resources.

“They have a never-say-die attitude, and despite certain logistical and equipment constraints, they still manage to keep rowing alive and well,” says Orsmond who describes the community as extremely resilient.

The regatta is a fine example of how rowing has adapted to regional circumstances. Fuel shortages meant that organisers were still trying to source fuel for the umpires launch up to the last minute. Seated next to the umpire is a professional hunter there to fend off any hippopotamus or crocodile that may stray too close to the competitors. The umpire also has the task of escorting rowers for each race to the start line.

“They had to row in convoy, straight onto the start, as it would be too risky for rowers to go off on their own in any direction," says Orsmond. “Very rarely, a hippo might upset, tip or bite a boat in half. But incidences of direct attacks on humans are rare.”

This year the regatta got lucky and no hippopotamus came onto the course, unlike two years ago when the course had to be altered when a hippopotamus decided to settle in. A crocodile, however, did show itself.

The number of competitors plus the available boats meant races were sorted not just by ability or age but also handicapped judged by equipment differentials.

“Because it’s not always easy for participants to get their boats there, the organisers basically pool all of the boats that the local clubs bring to the regatta and then allocate them to various crews for each race,” says Orsmond.

Rowing in Zimbabwe is relatively new with the oldest club, Hunyani Rowing Club, established in the 1950s. The club is based 30km from the capital city of Harare and row on the Mazoe Dam. This is the rowing base for four of the five Zimbabwean rowing clubs.

Currently the strength of the sport lies at the high school level with some rowers continuing at university locally and in South Africa. This year, a first for Zimbabwe, the country competed at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships with sisters Rosanne and Micheen Thornycroft competing in the pair.

Zimbabwe is hoping to attract rowers from other countries to the Victoria Falls Regatta. Already South Africa has started to send crews and regatta organiser Robin Barrett is hoping to attract wider participation from other nations. For more information contact Robin Barrett at: barelect@zol.co.zw

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