Tuks rowers Williams and Westley are taking RMB Universities Boat Race seriously - TimesLIVE

One would think that for athletes who have just returned from racing on the international stage, the RMB Universities Boat Race might appear to be a step down.

For University of Pretoria rowers Katherine Williams and Courtney Westley it is anything but.

Fresh from competing in Amsterdam, where they raced in the pairs at the World Championships, the Tuks duo will this weekend swap international competition for the university eight when they line up on Port Alfred’s Kowie River.

And there is no sense of them viewing the Boat Race as something beneath them, quite the opposite.

“It’s our way of giving back to the university,” Westley says.

Williams agrees but believes there is something more fundamental to it.

“As an international athlete, you should never think that anything is beneath you,” she says.

That attitude says as much about the two rowers as their performances on the water.

The international season is serious business.

It’s our way of giving back to the university. As an international athlete, you should never think that anything is beneath you

Training, racing and the relentless pursuit of performance dominate their lives.

But the University Boat Race offers something different: a chance to compete with friends, represent the institution that has supported them and, importantly, enjoy rowing.

“It’s always a nice way to end off the season and show some gratitude for the university,” Williams says.

“But also it’s just a fun event and a cool way to end the season with your friends.”

There is still a competitive edge, of course.

Neither athlete is travelling to Port Alfred simply to make up the numbers.

But the atmosphere and the nature of the event offer a welcome change after a long international campaign.

“During our season it’s very serious, and we focus on training and racing,” Westley says.

“So now it’s almost like coming down a pressure level.

“We’re obviously still focused and we still want to compete and race well, of course. But it’s also just completely different.”

Instead of the familiar 2,000m racing format, they will be part of a Tuks eight, bringing together international experience and student rowers.

For Williams, that change of format is part of what makes the Boat Race so valuable.

“It becomes super important how you work together as a crew and the dynamics of a crew, especially being eight,” she says.

During our season it’s very serious, and we focus on training and racing. So now it’s almost like coming down a pressure level

“And just making sure that everyone knows that they are adding so much to the boat. It doesn’t matter that we’ve gone overseas.

“As long as everyone’s doing their best, that’s all we can ask for.”

That sense of collective achievement runs through their appreciation of the event.

The Boat Race brings universities together at the end of the season, allowing rowers to see the work their rivals have put in over the preceding months.

It is competitive, but it is also celebratory.

Williams describes it as a gathering that demonstrates the breadth and love of rowing in South Africa.

“You get to see the work that everyone’s put in throughout the year,” she says.

“It also shows the love for the sport with how many varsities we are able to get onto the water and the different skill levels that everyone is doing it because of the love for the sport. That’s what unites everyone.”

Westley sees the same evolution from year to year.

“I really enjoy every year seeing how much different universities have grown,” she says.

“Just seeing across all the races and divisions which competition has got narrower and which competition has got wider is really interesting, and just great to see how that changes year to year.”

Their affection for the Boat Race is also rooted in personal experience.

Tuks have dominated the women’s event, winning the title nine years in succession and 10 times overall.

Williams and Westley are therefore not merely returning to a fun end-of-season regatta; they are part of a programme carrying a considerable legacy.

“We are very honoured to be able to uphold the legacy of the Tuks women,” Westley says.

That legacy creates expectations, but they are determined not to become consumed by them.

“We try not to focus too much on the other universities,” Williams says.

“What they’re doing, we can’t change. But we can focus on what our goals are and how well we row and how hard we push.”

They expect UCT and Stellenbosch to provide the strongest challenges, but the Tuks rowers are concentrating on what happens in their own boat.

That philosophy is particularly relevant after Amsterdam.

The pair had hoped for a top-five finish but ended up racing in the C final, where they put together the performance they knew they were capable of producing.

“We found a whole lot of speed just over the last couple of months,” Westley says.

“Maybe we just weren’t able to execute it properly for our heats.”

But the C-final victory provided something useful: evidence of what they could do when they got their race right.

“Take that forward to be like, OK, what did we do really well the second time around that we didn’t do the first time?” Westley says.

For Williams, the lessons of international rowing extend beyond race results.

Missing out on the Paris Olympics had left her questioning whether she wanted to continue with the sport at all. It was the Boat Race that helped restore her enthusiasm.

“I definitely took quite a knock, and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to carry on rowing,” she says.

“I think I spent three weeks in bed and then I was like, OK, it’s time to get up.”

Returning to university, completing her teaching practicals and getting involved in the Boat Race helped bring the enjoyment back.

Honouring the memory of late Tuks coach Mpumi Geza, who had coached Williams from her first year in 2019 before his death in 2021.

“The Boat Race kind of just showed me how much I love the environment and why I got into rowing,” Williams says.

It taught her that the Olympics could be an ambition without becoming an identity.

“I’ve learnt that you can’t be defined by your achievements. They’re just something that you do.”

And that may explain better than anything why two international-level rowers can arrive in Port Alfred and embrace a university race with genuine enthusiasm.

They are still athletes who want to perform. But they also understand that sport is about more than results.

For Williams and Westley, the University Boat Race is a chance to race with friends, represent the university that has supported them, celebrate the sport they love and close another demanding season together.

“It’s a cool way to end off the season,” Williams says.

And there is nothing about that which they consider a step backwards.