Duncan eyes Junior Rowing Champs

Sport
St George’s College student Stuart Duncan has set sights on qualifying for the 2017 Junior World Rowing championships set for Trakai, Lithuania 2017 World Rowing in September and October this year.

St George’s College student Stuart Duncan has set sights on qualifying for the 2017 Junior World Rowing championships set for Trakai, Lithuania 2017 World Rowing in September and October this year.

BY SPORTS REPORTER

Stuart Duncan poses with his bronze medal with national rowing coach Rachel Davis in Italy recently
Stuart Duncan poses with his bronze medal with national rowing coach Rachel Davis in Italy recently

The Upper Six student is on a high after he won a bronze medal at the Memorial Regatta in Piediluco, Italy last month and has been working overtime in preparation for the qualifying competition which could be held next month at Mazowe Dam.

“At the moment I am taking one step at a time and my focus is on going to Lithuania for the Junior World Rowing championships,” he told Sports World.

“That is my goal so far but I know it is going to be difficult to qualify because there are two or three other guys from Peterhouse [Boys’ School] who are looking to also qualify for the competition,” he added.

The 17-year-old rower is keen to represent the country in the single and double sculls should he succeed in the time trial qualifier.

Duncan also spoke for the first time about his impressive third-place finish in Italy which brought the curtain down to an International Developmental Camp.

“It was a bit unexpected coming third at the world stage. It was rather daunting and I was a bit nervous at the starting line. I managed to get-off to a good start and I managed to hold-on to third place. It was a memorable event for me,” Duncan said.

Duncan had failed to make it to the single scull final on the first day of the event but put up a huge performance on the final day.

While Duncan thinks the rowing facilities in the country are not the best, he believes Zimbabwe has some of the best rowing coaches.

“The standard of coaching here is very high. We have some of the best coaches in the world,” he said.

Duncan is part of the St George’s College rowing team which was recently voted the best junior male team.

The St George’s rowing team coached by Mario Cunha has other immensely talented rowers such as Darragh van Aswegan and David Maonga.