Parent's Guide to Rowing South Africa Schools Rowing U14-Open 2025/26

Eligibility (SASRU rules for all regattas):

• The rower must be 18 or younger and enrolled full-time at a registered South African school, or be able to prove enrolment in a school-level education system.
• Rowers still at school who are U19 may race in Open events at school regattas, but must be U18 for provincial or international competition.
• Post-matric rowers in school regattas must be U18.
• Learners in online schooling must row for a junior club.

Grade 12s

• Matrics at rowing schools and junior clubs may not race in school regattas from September to December. This includes the SA Schools Boat Race.
• They return to school racing in the January to March part of the season.
• At the SA Schools Championships, Open rowers must be a Grade 12 scholar born in 2008 or later, or any other registered rower born in 2009 or later (2025/26 rules).

Other rules

• No rower may race for two schools or clubs at the same regatta.
• Boys may not race in girls' events or girls in boys' events. This includes coxswains.
• A rower at a rowing school may only row for that school.
• All competitors race in their school's or club's recognised colours.

Yes, through a junior rowing club. Under the SASRU rules:

• Who can join: a rower whose school doesn't offer rowing may row for a junior club, including in composite crews made up of members of the same club from different schools. A rower at a school that does offer rowing must row for that school, and school club boats can't have composite crews.
• Annual enrolment form from the rower's school, giving the school's name, address and contacts, the rower's name, grade and date of birth, and a letter confirming the school doesn't offer rowing.
• Club registration: the club must be registered with SASRU and RowSA and up to date with fees. The SASRU Executive may waive or reduce fees for development clubs that meet transformation criteria.
• Large groups: if a club has more than 5 rowers of the same gender in an age group from the same school, they race under club colours without composites in fours and quads. With more than 15 from one school, the club should encourage that school to start its own rowing club.
• Changing clubs: junior club rowers can't change clubs after 1 October for the rest of the season, unless they move out of the province. Deliberate breaches mean suspension for the following season.
• Online schooling: learners in online schooling programmes must row for a junior club.

Junior club and school rowers are treated the same for points and medals.

Every rower at a school regatta must have passed the Standard Sculling Test. The school or junior club runs the test and is responsible for it. When a club registers a rower with RowSA, it is confirming the rower has passed.

The test (SASRU rules):

1. Two scullers carry the boat from the boathouse and put it on the water.
2. Scull 50 m from the jetty or bank and back.
3. Turn the boat on its axis, clockwise and anti-clockwise, moving no more than about 1 m sideways.
4. Back the stern to the bank or jetty from at least 10 m away, as for a stake-boat start.
5. Scull at firm pressure and, on the command "hold it hard", stop the boat within one boat length.
6. The two scullers return the boat and blades to the boathouse.
7. Swim 50 m in rowing kit.

The RowSA Rules of Racing add one more requirement for all RowSA-registered rowers: being able to get back into the boat unaided in racing kit.

Distances (SASRU rules for all regattas):

Boat types at the SA Schools Championships (2025/26):

Key: 8+ = coxed eight; 8x+ = coxed octuple; 4+ = coxed four; 4- = coxless four; 4x+ = coxed quad; 2- = pair; 2x = double scull; 1x = single scull.

So at the championships, U14 and U15 crews only scull, and sweep events start at U16.

Some events are treated as incompatible in the programme (eights or octuples with doubles, fours with quads, and pairs with singles), so these can be rowed close together and leave more time between each age group's races.

Minimum boat weights: single 14 kg; double or pair 27 kg; coxed four 51 kg; coxed quad 53 kg; eight 96 kg.

• Formal season: September to March of the following year.
• Before September: pre-season and off-season programmes.
• After March: provincial and national selection and competition carry on for U16 and Open rowers.
• Age group for the season: rowers are placed in their age group at the start of the season in September, and it doesn't change when the new school year begins in January.
• Championships: the season builds to the SA Schools' Rowing Championships in early March. The general SASRU rules say the first weekend of March. The 2025/26 championship rules say three days over the first or second Saturday in March.
• Grade 12s: matrics at rowing schools and junior clubs may not race in school regattas from September to December, and that includes the SA Schools Boat Race. They can race again from January.
• Junior club members may not change clubs after 1 October for the rest of the season, unless they move out of the province.

Boats and equipment (SASRU rules and RowSA Rules of Racing)

• Every boat, at practice and at regattas, must have a bow ball: a solid white ball at least 4 cm across, firmly fixed to the bow.
• Boats must have approved heel restraints (no longer than 70 mm), and feet must never be tied in so they can't get out quickly. Shoes must meet the quick-release rule: a single quick pull on one easily reached strap, or no hands needed.
• Boats must meet minimum weights and float when swamped.

Rowers

• Every rower must have passed the Standard Sculling Test, including swimming 50 m in rowing kit.
• Wearing hats is strongly recommended.
• Clubs must declare any medical condition that could put a rower at risk to control commission before the race. The information is passed to the umpire.

Regatta organisers must provide:

• At least one rescue boat with experienced crew. RowSA's minimum is one per 1,000 m of course, each with a first-aid-trained crew member, life jackets and a rescue torpedo.
• Competent first-aid services. RowSA's minimum is an intermediate and a basic paramedic per 250 competitors, with resuscitation equipment.
• A published safety plan, traffic rules for the water, and marked places of safety for lightning.

The course is closed to training boats from 30 minutes before the first race until 30 minutes after the last.

Under the RowSA Rules of Racing:

• Safety plan: every regatta must have a safety plan, published with the regatta notice, that includes what to do off the water in adverse weather, especially lightning. It must name venue-specific "places of safety" big enough for competitors and expected spectators, clearly signposted. Clubs are responsible for making sure their athletes and supporters follow it.
• Race by race: the umpire decides whether wind or water make a race unsafe or unfair, and whether a race may start, continue or must be stopped. In windy or rough conditions the umpire can use a rolling start.
• Changing the programme:
  • At local and local championship regattas, the President of the Jury may change the programme after consulting the jury and the organising committee chair.
  • At national and national championship regattas, the fairness committee may do so.
  • Postponed races are rescheduled with the President of the Jury.
• Head races: where there are many entries or conditions are adverse, a heat may be run as a time trial (a head race), with crews starting in alternate lanes.

At the SA Schools Championships, unfavourable weather can push racing on until 18:30 on Sunday, so families flying home should allow for this.

Follow officials' instructions on any matter of safety. Rowers, coaches and their clubs are responsible for complying.

The South African Schools' Rowing Championships are the highlight of the school season. Here is how they ran under the 2025/26 championship rules:

• When and where: over three days around the first or second Saturday in March, at a venue chosen by the SASRU Executive.
  • Friday: Group 1 (single sculls and pairs).
  • Saturday and Sunday: Groups 2 and 3.
  • Bad weather can push racing to 18:30 on Sunday, so plan travel home with that in mind.
• Format: an elimination regatta of heats (or heads), semi-finals where needed, and A finals. There are no B finals in any age group. Gold, silver and bronze go to the top three in each A final.
• Eligibility (2025/26):
  • Open: a Grade 12 scholar born in 2008 or later, or any other registered rower born in 2009 or later.
  • U16: born in 2010 or later.
  • U15: born in 2011 or later.
  • U14: born in 2012 or later.
  • Rowers must be bona fide scholars at a member or associate school or club.
• Events: boys and girls race single and double sculls and coxed quads in every age group. U14 and U15 also race octuples. U16 and Open add sweep events (pairs, fours, and eights for boys).
• Entry limits:
  • Four single scullers per school per age group (five in Open).
  • Rowers should not enter more than one event a day.
  • Schools can't enter the same crew in incompatible events (e.g. pairs and singles), and the Executive can cut a school's entries.
• Rules: the SASRU and RowSA Rules of Racing apply, plus the championship rules.

Ordinary school regattas. Under the SASRU rules for all regattas, organisers choose between:

• no points system at all,
• a "nominations" system, or
• the SA Schools Championships system, where points are scored for A-category events only.

Where points are used, boys' and girls' events are scored separately, with separate prizes or trophies. Medals and certificates are at the host's discretion. School rowers and junior club rowers are treated the same for points and medals, and no duplicate medals are given.

SA Schools Championships

• Points go only to A-final placings (1st to 8th), towards the overall, age-group and other trophies. They count for all crews, including non-SA crews and a school's second or third crews.
• The biggest events score most. For example, the boys' 1st VIII scores 35, 31, 28, 26 and so on down to 22. An U14 or U15 single scull winner scores 9.
• Boys' and girls' points are scored separately, but combined for the co-educational schools' trophy.
• Gold, silver and bronze medals go to the top three in each A final. U14, U15, U16 and Open A-final medals are presented straight after the race on the winners' jetty.
• Medals for the boys' 1st and 2nd VIII and the girls' 1st and 2nd quad, plus the age-group and other trophies, are presented at prize-giving, 20 minutes after the last race. Special medals are minted for the boys' 2nd VIII and girls' 2nd quad, and a school's first crew must have taken part in the regatta.

• Entries are made by the school or club, normally through www.regatta.co.za, although organisers can set another method.
• One school or club per regatta: no rower may compete for two different schools or clubs at the same regatta.
• Single-sex events: boys may not enter girls' events and girls may not enter boys' events. This includes coxswains.
• Right level: coaches and masters-in-charge should enter crews in events where they are competitive. A crew that dominates a category should be moved up.
• Injury on the day: if a crew member is genuinely incapacitated, regatta control may authorise a substitute from a lower-division crew. The substitute can still row in their own event.
• Indemnity: by entering, the school or club accepts that the event is at its own risk, and indemnifies the organisers, SASRU, sponsors, officials and event staff against any claim for loss, damage or injury arising from taking part or attending.

SA Schools Championships

• No crew changes or scratches in Open and U16 events after the preliminary draw, except for medical reasons.
• A rower who withdraws, even with a medical certificate, forfeits all their seats at the regatta.
• No changes at all after the final draw.
• Late entries are not allowed in single sculls.
• An event with fewer than three entries from three different schools or clubs is cancelled.

Under Rule 2.12 of the RowSA Rules of Racing, each registered club (including school clubs) is responsible for making sure that:

• All coaches are over 16 and registered with their constituent member (for schools, SASRU) and with RowSA. This is a requirement.
• Coaches should have done a SAMSA- or RowSA-approved course on basic boating safety, boatmanship and piloting skills before piloting a coaching launch, and keep up with ongoing education.
• Coaches should hold Level 1 First Aid and CPR certification, kept up to date.

The constituent member can grant exemptions, but never ones that go against SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority) regulations.

During races: coaches and anyone else are not allowed to give a crew instructions or advice during a race.

People applying for positions working directly with children must also provide evidence of good conduct or no criminal record, under RowSA's Safeguarding Policy.

The RowSA Safeguarding Policy (November 2025) applies to everyone in South African rowing: RowSA staff and volunteers, and the athletes, coaches and administrators of clubs, school clubs, provincial bodies, and visitors to regattas. A child is anyone aged 0 to 18.

What it covers: psychological, physical, sexual and discriminatory abuse, harassment and neglect, including bullying, cyber-bullying and age-inappropriate training loads.

Code of conduct, for example:

• No taking children home or to private places, and no sharing rooms.
• No inappropriate touching, and no doing personal things a child can do themselves.
• No photographing, filming or interviewing a child without informed, documented consent from the child and their parent or guardian.
• No contact with children outside official duties.

Photos: RowSA seeks documented consent from parents before photographing or filming a child. Published images shouldn't include identifying details such as the family name. Photographers may be asked to stop.

Screening: people applying to work directly with children must provide evidence of good conduct or no criminal record.

Reporting

• Raise concerns immediately with the RowSA Safeguarding Officer (safeguarding@rowsa.co.za), who completes a report form with you.
• Reports are confidential, and people who report in good faith are protected.
• The officer makes sure the child is safe, investigates, and reports to the police where appropriate.
• Sanctions can include a ban of up to two calendar years from all sporting activity.

Your school or club should also have its own safeguarding procedures that are consistent with RowSA's.