St David’s Prep and College Canoeists come out tops at SA Schools’ Sprint Championships

The SA Schools Sprint Championships took place over the weekend of the 23rd to 26th of April, at the Ntshongweni dam in KwaZulu-Natal. 

St David’s Marist Inanda can be proud of its Prep and College canoeists who wore their colours with pride and raced with grit and courage. The boys experienced many personal bests and fine moments over the weekend. They have made lifelong friends with paddling enthusiasts from many provinces. Our boys have come away winners in more ways than just the outcome of the competition - they have learnt the value of team work, community spirit, and to appreciate the power of physical endurance and healthy competition. 

Our thanks to Mr Phineas Zulu, the Dabs coach who trains some of the senior boys in the team, Mr Meshack Malete our trusted driver for taking the boats down for the boys, and all our parents for their support. All in all, it was a fun-filled weekend for the boys and parents.

Well done to all St David’s paddlers. Each boy contributed to the team's overall points for the College and Prep. In the 26 years of SA Schools, it has been a while since both the High school and Prep school both won their school category in the same year.

The event also served as the National Selection Event for the International Canoe Federation's Junior and Under 23 Sprint World Championships set to take place in Portugal in September this year. 

Matthew Maccelari, one of our matric students, was selected as part of the Junior team and will represent South Africa on the world stage later this year. Matthew has subsequently earned his national Protea colours in canoeing. 

We are extremely proud of Matthew for this enormous achievement and representing the Marist spirit and ethos at an international level of success. 

Well done Matthew!

The results from the weekend were as follows: