ROWERS JOURNEY
My Journey to World Champs
From the age of 11 Jeanne Rieman found a passion for rowing which over ten years later is still going strong . In her own words , Jeanne takes us through her journey over the last ten years to preparing for the World Rowing Championships in Canada later this year .
From when I was 11 years old , and coxing the u13 crews , I saw that the best results were achieved when goals were set . it was that that l set a goal for myself to be the best version of myself . This goal entailed excelling in sports , academics , trying everything new I could , and being the kind of person that people want to be around . My coach , Matthew Soll , always told me that a good athlete is a well-rounded one . This pushed me to focus on growing as an athlete on and off the water .
Since then , I never based by achievements off of the physical results I achieved , but rather whether I had given my all to all aspects of my life and if I gave my best or not .
I have spent some of my best years rowing for Holy Rosary School , finishing off my last season of school rowing as Captain of this amazing club . I started rowing in 2017 as a little grade six who was way too keen to try everything and anything but mostly to be like my big brother , Sebastien Riemann who rowed for Bennies .
I saw how the rowing community housed a different group of people ; people who looked after each other no matter the level of competition , people who were friends with their competitors as if they were teammates , and people who pushed each other to be better in all aspects of their lives not just in rowing . I decided while sitting on the banks in anticipation for me to be old enough to start rowing that this was the sport for me .
I have represented South Africa in the u19 world rowing championships for two consecutive years . In 2022 I rowed in a coxless quad with Bee Kappler from St Stithians who is studying at University of Central Florida , Kerry Grundlingh from St Mary ’ s who is studying at Princeton University and Holly Crews from St Stithians who is starting to study at Brown University this year ; coached by the junior national head coach , Caitlin Dace . We placed 2nd in the B final with a time of 6:38 , placing 8th overall ; these girls are some of my closest friends whom I am in contact with everyday . My best result , however , was in the JW2x last year with
Danni Price-Hughes from St Mary ’ s , placing 6th in the A final with a new South African U19 record of 7:08 .
I am currently training with the U23 national squad in the hopes of qualifying for the World Rowing Championships in Canada in August this year . From there I will be heading off to University of Alabama to study Aerospace engineering and to row for the university .
I would never have been able to achieve what I did without the support from my coaches , teammates , competitors turned teammates / closest friends , family and friends .
The most important thing when it comes to rowing , is to give back what you ’ ve learnt . I believe that every young rower has the potential to reach beyond their goals and exceed their own expectations .
No matter what level of training you ’ re at , if you ’ re having fun then you ’ re on the right track .
36 SA Schools Rowing Champs 2024