14/09/2022
If you walk through the streets of Port Alfred on the Saturday night of RMB Universities Boat Race, you’ll hear a few things not typically heard in those quiet parts.
Your path may take you past a backpackers or two, where you’ll hear some cheery songs echoing. You may stroll alongside a complex of townhouses, where you’ll detect the laughter of celebrating youth. You may pass by a bar or two, with rowers from the big cities passing in and out, arm in arm.
If you keep walking, you may notice the tall marquee of the Boat Race Festival set up alongside the Kowie. Here, partygoers, participating athletes and Rhodes students link up to hear some of the best beats South African DJs have to offer.
Here, athletes from different teams finally meet each other outside of the competitive environment, reunite with old friends, and form bonds with new ones. They dance, they play. They celebrate each other, they celebrate themselves. They celebrate rowing.
The night is a release of all that energy built up over so many days upon the Kowie. All of the focus, ex*****on and effort required by the trials of the past week are balanced by the fun and freedom of the night.
The music goes on long, and the athletes match it until they’re spent, when they head home for a welcome sleep.
The next day the athletes head home. As quickly as they arrived, they disappear from the streets of Port Alfred and the waters of the Kowie. All is as it was in this seaside town.
Calm. Until next year.
And so our journey through the experience of the RMB Universities Boat Race comes to an end. We hope you had fun reading along with us, and that for many of you these posts have been nostalgic to follow.
To the athletes currently in Port Alfred, we salute you, and we wish you all the best.
We hope that this year’s event is filled with all the highs and lows that make it so memorable for so many. Enjoy it, make the most of it, and cherish the memories. They’ll last forever.
Good luck.
Race hard.
Thrive.
