UFH rowing coach racks up international caps with second Worlds

Rowing coach Lunga Mcetywa continued to fly the Fort Hare flag in international waters when he made his fifth appearance for South Africa earlier this month.

His latest outing in national colours came at the World Rowing Coastal Championships – his second – in the Italian city of Genoa. This goes with his two Africa Beach Sprints tours and selection for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

While Team SA’s crews found themselves among the minor placings, Mcetywa relished his second visit to the Mediterranean city, which brought entirely different conditions to the party.

“I rowed in the quads at the beach sprints but there were some challenges in terms of the competition setup,” Mcetywa said.

"The section of the beach they used this year was terrible compared to last year. It was covered in pebbles.”

He explained that rowers had to run 60m on the beach to their boat, then row 250m out and 250m back, “so it was hard running there”.

As all the competitors were faced with the same conditions, Mcetywa didn’t make any excuses.

A day prior to the Worlds he took part in a 5km rowing competition open to clubs from across the globe. Team SA entered a few crews, with the Fort Hare mentor competing in the doubles.

The national outfit struggled at both events, largely due to the lack of international experience among their ranks. However, their time in Italy was not spent in vain.

Beach sprint rowing will debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and there is no doubt that these experiences are exactly what the team need to become more competitive against global opposition.

Mcetywa, meanwhile, hoped to don the green and gold once more at the upcoming Africa Beach Sprints in Egypt.

At the time of the interview, he was about to take to the ergometer – a machine used to simulate rowing on dry land – to attempt qualification for the continental champs in November.

With a lack of coastal boats in provinces like the Eastern Cape, rowers can submit these times.

As for his Olympic ambitions, Mcetywa chose not to think too far ahead.

“I would love to be part of it, but that is a long-term goal. For now I’m taking it one year at a time.”

Due to being away on national duty, he was not able to attend the University Sports South Africa Boat Race in Port Alfred.

Fort Hare pulled off several good performances despite their preparation having been curtailed by unfortunate equipment failures.

“We had to do a lot of our training on land,” Mcetywa, who had been particularly happy to beat the better-prepared WSU in the time-trial, explained.

Although their arch-rivals turned the tables later on, he felt his charges did “very well” under the circumstances.