Rowing to make an impact
29th September, 2024
Anyone who knows Minerva member Darren Low, will also know that in 2017 he learnt to row at our club so that he could join the RowZambezi expedition to row 900km of the Kafue River in Zambia! It’s not the standard reason for learning to row, but an interesting, exciting and important one, nonetheless. For the aim of the challenge was to raise funds and awareness for a charity – Village Water – who work in Mozambique and Zambia to bring clean water and sanitation to parts of the countries that need it.
And for Darren, the rowing and fund raising continues: he’s just completed his second and final leg of the challenge – RowZambique – with The Row Zambezi Sculling Club, an international, virtual rowing club that includes club, elite and Olympic rowers from the UK, USA, Europe and Africa.
“It’s risky, dangerous and challenging,” says Darren. “You have to be a bit mad to do it!?
The 2024 trip was over three weeks, with 13 days rowing 600k along the Zambezi (eight days downstream to the Indian Ocean) and five days against the stream across Lake Cahora Bassa and back upstream on the Zambezi into Zambia.
“The Zambezi is such a vast body of water, and on Cahora Bassa conditions are sometimes coastal rowing and there were huge waves some days. But the boats are quite stable: they are really a coxed pair that are converted to row as a triple. We had three boats, so nine rowers on the water at anyone time, with a support boats alongside.”
“Heat is the biggest challenge: it was 37 degrees and we were covering 80 kilometres a day; you can be on the water all day – sun up to sun down. There were around 30 people in our group, including mechanics, cooks and 20 athletes from seven different countries”
“We had a few close calls with the wildlife! There were crocodiles on the sandbanks and we’d have to get them to move out of the way as we pulled up to where we wanted to camp for the night. And there were so many hippos: it’s hard to turn and get out the way of a hippo!
“The very last day was the most brutal I’ve ever had to do. It was 1.5 hours rowing upstream, rating 26/28, full pressure – and only making 5kph. The river was narrow at this point and there were pods of hippos everywhere. It was really hard and dangerous and I had nothing left at the end!”
The exhibition finished with a celebration party, with local dignitaries attending. “We took a videographer with us and and are planning to release a film and write a book – all for fundraising for Village Water. The impact the charity has is so much more than providing water – it changes the lives of so many young people, especially girls who traditionally would have to collect water but now have time to attend school.”\
And what’s next for Darren?
“We have a proper accredited rowing club so we might do some scratch crew head races this winter! We are also looking at The Head of Charles next year in Boston (Or crew did this in 2018 after the Rowzambezi Expedition) and have early plans to row the length of Lake Malawi in 2027.”
The next RowZambique expedition is in 2027. Seats are open to people who pay or raise funds for the charity. Crews are selected by Elite GB coaches. Rules are: everyone is equal: no tantrums, no arguments. The 2024 crews were mixed: ages from 21 – 63 years and people who had barely rowed sitting in with Olympians. You can see their details here.
