Our thoughts are with the rowing community

Please see the official statement issued by our partner, Rowing South Africa (RowSA). It communicates the decision to cancel the remainder of the the National Sprint Regatta:

Today marks a sad day for rowing in South Africa. We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear of a lightning strike incident that occurred today at the National Sprint Regatta held at Victoria Lake Club (Germiston Lake) that resulted in a death of a coach and injury of an athlete.

The incident took place on land after the regatta had ended.

In light of the tragic events of today, which led to the death of a member of our rowing community, Rowing South Africa (RowSA) has taken the decision to cancel the remainder of the VLC National Sprints Regatta (Sunday 27 January 2019).

This decision was taken out of the deepest respect for those affected and in the interests of the broader rowing community. Germiston Lake will remain open to the public and rowers will be permitted to row and use the water. However no form of racing will take place.

We wish our rower a speedy recovery and we would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family and club of this special coach, our hearts are with you during this immensely difficult time.

RowSA will communicate further on today’s incident when more information is available.

SEAN KERR

President

Somerset College has also released an official communication to its community.

Our thoughts are with the rowing community during this sad time. We post updates as soon as we receive them.