TROPHIES
The Jeppe ‘ A ’ Crew winning the schools ’ coxed fours event , Vaal River , 1959
The Cambridge Bowl
The year 1959 was the first full year of the Jeppe Rowing Club ’ s existence . One of the regattas its first ever racing crew – named the ‘ A ’ Crew – competed in was dubbed the ‘ Cambridge Regatta ,’ which took place in August that year . It was held on the Vaal River as a showcase event for a visiting Cambridge Eight , which was touring the country . The ‘ A ’ Crew did exceptionally well in this regatta , winning both the schools ’ coxed fours and the open novice fours event . The schools they raced against in the schools ’ coxed fours were Germiston Boys ’ High , CBC Boksburg and CBC Bloemfontein . The trophy for the win in the novice fours was the Cambridge Bowl , which the Vikings Rowing Club had donated to commemorate the Cambridge Tour .
The Cambridge crew was in South Africa for a summer training camp and tour , as part of their preparation for the 1960 Oxford- Cambridge Boat Race . The crew members were hosted by local families , including Martin Maine ’ s family , so he remembers their visit well , including one particular day when , as schoolboys watching the Cambridge crew train at VLC , he and Herb Freercks , Michael Watt and James Davidson were given the opportunity to row in the Cambridge boat with four of their oarsmen . At the time , schoolboys rowed only in fours , so getting into an eight for the first time with half the Cambridge crew left an indelible impression on Martin and his teammates . schoolboy coxed four of the season . Jeppe crews were regular recipients , but records show that it was last won by a Jeppe crew in 1975 . The present whereabouts of this trophy are not known , and recent attempts to track it down have proven unsuccessful . Therefore , the relocation of the Cambridge Bowl , and a return to awarding it as an annual trophy , should be seen as a worthy quest .
Similarly , another worthy quest would be the construction , for the records , of the lists of the schools that won the Cambridge Bowl during the period 1959-1975 , and those which won the Kiwi and Springbok Shields over the years 1959-2023 , in South Africa and New Zealand respectively .
Herb Freercks receiving the Cambridge Bowl from GH Brown , President of the Cambridge Boat Club
Between 1960 and 1964 , the Cambridge Bowl was awarded each year to the winning novice coxed four in the SA Championships Regatta . After that it was reserved for the best performing
This article has been extracted and adapted from the book , JEPPE ROWING – Turning Black and White into Gold since 1958 , which was published in 2022 . It contains a brief account of the early days of SA schools ’ rowing , and is available for purchase at R550 a copy , from ‘ Jeppe Boats & Blades ’, founded by Jeppe Rowing Old Boy Greg le Roux , greg . leroux001 @ gmail . com , c / o Tracy Roodt , tracyroodt83 @ gmail . com .
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