Brittain’s bring home the gold – Buffalo Regatta

We all know Lawrence Brittain as one half of SA’s silver medal-winning duo from the Rio Olympics (along with Shaun Keeling). We’ve seen the guys in the RMB Thinking. Pulling. Together. ad and taken them on road shows around the country to talk about their journey to the podium in Rio. But did you know that Lawrence’s entire family is involved in rowing? Team ‘Great Brittain’ will be rowing together for the first time ever at the Buffalo Regatta in East London in February – sponsored by CN&CO clients Rand Merchant Bank, EasyEquities and Dead Recknoning. 

For many years the Brittain brothers: James, Charles, Lawrence and Matthew had an idea to row together, a simple dream that seemed to be far too many strokes away, however,  on Saturday, 11th February 2017 the #BrittainBrothers made their way down to East London for the most prestigious race on the South African rowing calendar: The Grand Challenge at the much anticipated Bufffalo Regatta. After hours of training, the brothers took to the water for what would be their most unforgettable race to date. The competition was bound to be a tough one as the brother took on fellow olympian Jake Milton Green and his team who are also training for Tokyo 2020. The last stretch of the race was a clear demonstration of pushing limits, undying passion and a relentless drive to reach the top. As fellow Olympian Michael Phelps once said, “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get” – the Brittain Brother did not simply achieve a dream, they took home the ultimate win finishing the Grand Challenge in gold medal position and taking home the best trophy of all – the honour of winning the biggest rowing race in South Africa as a unstoppable brotherhood, a true force to be reckoned with.

Lawrence Brittain, on top of winning the Grand Challenge also rowed his way into first place in the singles race; another epic battle by the Olympic Silver Medalist and a great demonstration of what is to come in Tokyo 2020.

The Buffalo Regatta didn’t come without a few setbacks, the most evident being a sudden storm that rolled in over the water with multiple races being cancelled as result. Sport is demanding on an individual in so many ways. Hours of training, endurance and pushing one’s personal limits undeniably takes its toll on an athletes body and mind. In order to be a well-rounded athlete one needs to possess three qualities: ability, motivation and attitude. Ability in doing what you’re capable of;  Motivation determining what you choose to pursue and attitude determining the outcome of your choices, not just in winning, but most importantly in losing, rising above the loss and seeing it as motivation to keep pushing to the top . “If it doesn’t challenge you, it wont change you”- Fred DeVito; that’s the brutality of sport whether setbacks present themselves in the form of injuries, a loss or an unexpected thunder storm impacting the start of a race, it is the way in which these obstacles are tackled that separate champions from the rest of the field.

The success of the race could not have been possible without sponsorships from RMB, the official sponsors of the four brothers, Dead Reckoning Clothing that sponsored their personalized kits and made it possible for Lawrence to get to East London with his boat in his new Ford Ranger from CMH Ford Hatfield. Events such as these would not be possible without multiple parties #ThinkingPullingTogether to provide a truly winning formula and #MakingBrittainGreatAgain.

The power of sport can never be underestimated and CN&CO believes strongly in harnessing the power to do good.  As proud PR agents of Lawrence and Shaun, our olympic silver medalists, we are honoured to be part of with Rowing RSA and National Squad story. What a phenomenal weekend and a true display of championship, sportsmanship and perseverance.