From Non-Swimmer to Triple Gold Medallist: Siyabonga Mhlungu Rowing Rise
Siyabonga Mhlungu only started rowing last year and recently walked away from the USSA Sprints Regatta with three gold medals and a silver. Western Cape, South Africa (07 May... The post From Non-Swimmer to Triple Gold Medallist: Siyabonga Mhlungu Rowing Rise appeared first on Good Things Guy.
Black News 
Siyabonga Mhlungu only started rowing last year and recently walked away from the USSA Sprints Regatta with three gold medals and a silver.
Western Cape, South Africa (07 May 2026) – A bold goal quickly turned into a golden few months for Madibaz rower Siyabonga Mhlungu, who recently claimed three gold medals at the University Sports South Africa (USSA) Sprints Regatta, despite only taking up rowing less than a year ago.
Even more impressive is the fact that Mhlungu could not swim when he first joined the Madibaz Rowing Club last year. Determined to make the most of the opportunity, he immediately signed up for Mandela University’s Learn-to-Swim programme before fully throwing himself into training and competition.
A few months later, he travelled with the Madibaz squad to Misverstand Dam in the Western Cape, where the team delivered one of the club’s strongest performances in recent years.
Mhlungu helped the Madibaz secure gold in the novice scull, coxed four and mixed eight events, while also collecting silver in the double scull race.
The mixed eight victory carried extra significance for the club as it reflected the rapid growth and development taking place within the rowing programme.
The Madibaz squad featured 25 rowers at the regatta, including 11 novices who had only started rowing within the previous 12 months.
Despite being one of the newer squads in the competition, the team still produced encouraging results against some of the country’s top university rowing programmes, with the men finishing fifth overall and the women eighth.
From having only seven members in 2022, the club has now grown to around 50 active rowers.
The men’s eight crew also achieved the club’s best A-final result since 2007 after finishing fifth, while the women’s coxed four secured another fifth-place finish.
The club has also benefited from improved equipment and a growing pipeline of young talent joining the programme.
For Mhlungu, though, the championships represented a particularly memorable milestone.
Just months after learning to swim, he walked away from one of university rowing’s biggest events with multiple gold medals around his neck. The USSA Sprints are now complete and the Madibaz squad has already shifted focus towards the USSA RMB Boatrace taking place later this year in September.
Sources: Supplied
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The post From Non-Swimmer to Triple Gold Medallist: Siyabonga Mhlungu Rowing Rise appeared first on Good Things Guy.
