Black and white athletes from South Africa are competing together for the first time in Canoeing events at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney.

The South African K4 500m team is debuting a mixed team with Ryan Culverwell, Muzi Martin Mathebula, Cam Marc Schoeman and Maungedzo Tshamano taking to the water for the K4 500m flatwater final, racing a time of 1min 32.96secs.

South African coach Attila Adrovicz believes bringing over a diverse team is a great achievement in itself.

“This is the first ever event with two black guys and two white guys. They are very excited and I would like the best result for the team,” said Adrovicz.

South African slalom team-mate, Iain Rennie, said that although it is the first time the boys have competed in the same team, they have bonded over their quest for a medal.

“It’s possibly the first time it’s happening in an international junior competition.

 “Everyone’s tense about racing…some guys are looking to win medals so there’s lots of excitement. It’s the best team we have at the moment,” he said.

The South Africans put in steady performances in each of the three finals on day one of competition. While they failed to pick up a medal, the team was extremely happy to be competing at the Festival.

“This course is really nice, it’s just great to be here,” Ryan Culverwell said.

Culverwell is also partnering Cam Schoeman in the K2 500m. “My K2 partner and I work very well together, we are arrogant towards each other, but when it comes to the crunch point, we work well together,” he said.

AOC President John Coates was delighted to see this happening at the AYOF.

“Sport transcends all boundaries. At the Olympic Games religious differences, political and racial differences are all forgotten. They are not an issue and this is what we want to instil in our young athletes competing at this Festival,” he said

Maria Tsialis
AYOF