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First ever Schools Surfski race!
Last Friday 19 March Fish Hoek beach hosted the first ever Western Province Interschools Surfski competition. The event which was sponsored by VarsityCollege saw students from 6 schools blasting around the 6km lap course in the all vying to see which school would be the first to hold the championship title. Not only were they racing for the coveted school championship, there were also age group titles to go for. But probably the biggest prize on offer was a spot on the team which will be traveling to Durban for the SA School race on the 9th of April. Schools represented were Fish Hoek High, Reddam House, SACS, Bergvliet, Wynberg Boys High and Springfield.

Conditions were choppy with a fresh south easter testing all the skills the students had been honing at the Friday afternoon training sessions during the first term. The training sessions are being held weekly at the Cape Town Surfski Club on Fish Hoek beach. All entrants had to complete 4 triangular laps in Fish Hoek bay each lap requiring good fitness, strength, impeccable balance and substantial wave riding skill. All the students performed remarkably, finishing in good time and racing each other right to the line.

Kenny Rice from Bergvliet raced a superb race, showing great skill in the downwind section, to come in first place overall, mere seconds ahead of a strong challenge from Anthony Lake from Fish Hoek High. In third place and also part of this lead group was Shanti Stewart from SACS. These 3 boys race away from the field in a standout performance. The first girl across the line was Kirsty Geldenbloem from Reddam House. In second place and also from Reddam was Sarah Blake, who was followed closely by Amy Bosworth from Fish Hoek. All 3 girls showed great surfing skills downwind and in their dash for the line.

Age group results were as follows:
U 14 Boys:
Tyrone Smoulders Fish Hoek 39:05
James Maitland Fish Hoek 49;15

U16 Boys:
Kenny Rice Bergvliet 31;13
Shanti Stewart SACS 32;16
Darren Barnard Fish Hoek 38;42
Alex Topliss SACS 39;06
Craig Flannagan SACS 53;47

U16 Girls:
Kirsty Geldenbloam Reddam 38:45
Amy Bosworth Fish Hoek 48;11
Caitlin Martin Fish Hoek 59;20
Brynde Jeffes Springfield 54;39

U18 Boys:
Anthony Lake Fish Hoek 31;21
Gary Carstens Fish Hoek 38;24

U18 Girls
Sarah Blake Reddam 39;31
Anna Notten Springfield 54;41

After tallying up the points the Interschools title was won by Fish Hoek High (55points), followed by SACS (21 points) and Reddam in third (20 points).

The Overall Interschools result was as follows:
Fish Hoek High School 55 Points
SACS 21 Points
Reddam House 20 Points
Springfield 16 Points
Bergvliet 10 Points
Wynberg 6 Points