“Good, better, best” is perhaps the best way to sum up the performance of the Tuks women’s rowers at the USSA Boat Race.
Over the past weekend in Port Alfred, the women’s A-team won for the ninth consecutive year. Their opponents in the final were Maties. This was the first time the Stellenbosch team had competed in the final.
Done Erasmus has now been part of the Tuks women’s A-crew four times to win. According to her, a fast start was important in the final.
“We managed to do so. The goal was to make the gap as big as possible. Our coxswain, Rhett Zillen, was amazing in the way he got us on course over the sharpest line.”
As to how the women’s crew has mastered the art of winning, she said, “We share the same goal, and each of us is prepared to sacrifice ourselves to make our dream come a reality. It led to us having amazing synergy in our boat.”
Asked what is unique about the USSA Boat Race, Tanna Diplock said racing on the Kowie River over nearly six kilometres means every crew member has to trust everyone, including the cox, who plays a crucial role in steering and communication with the crew.
“Forming a winning crew requires dedication to the goal many months in advance. All nine members of the crew must be able to communicate and work together effectively, especially when fatigue sets in during long sessions. It is important to motivate those around you when they are struggling,” said Diplock, who has now been involved in three of the Tuks victories.
Tuks’s men’s A-team prevented UCT from winning for the fourth consecutive year. It was Tuks’s 12th Boat Race win.
Phume Tshabala has the distinction of being the “old man” of the men’s A-crew.
I’m the only person left from that 2022 Tuks boat who won it, so it’s really nice for me to be able to give the younger guys their first win as well.
“Our final was really interesting. We had two very big clashes in the first kilometre of the race around the first turn. It meant we had to restart the race three times. After the 3rd restart, we came really close to clashing a third time, but we narrowly avoided the crash and started pulling away. After that, it was a very routine performance. Keep it tidy and slowly pull away.
“What makes USSA Boat Race so special is that you’re given a chance to be part of history. If you look under the bridges, there’s graffiti with all the university badges and mottos, and so even rowing on the course, you can feel it,” said Tshabala, who has competed in five Boat Races.
Troy Zillen, brother of Rhett Zillen (coxswain), said, “Over the last three years I think it has shown how truly difficult it can be to have a boat race winning crew. To have a winning crew, you need 8 oarsmen who are both explosive out of the blocks to get ahead and take the preferred line.
“My brother often says the Boat Race is a 5km heat and a 1km final if you can control the race, as well as being fit enough to put down a long, hard pace for the time trial. To make matters more complicated, you need a cox with the skill to hold a predetermined line and make in-the-moment decisions; if they are wrong, you can find yourself on a sandbank or rowing in slower water.
“Rhett making the decisive decision to go off as close behind UCT as possible and let us have the feeling of hunting down a crew gave us that extra motivation, resulting in us winning the heads race.”
The Tuks men’s and women’s B-crews were also victorious.
