The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 22
Jonathan Dunn (1977F), who
has a trove of photographs from
those early days, confirms Tim’s
recollection. “John Rideout was
single-minded about getting rowing
going, and clashed with the school
hierarchy. He’d come to rowing
from work in his suit, roll up
his trousers and get to work!”
Rowing then turned the corner
in the 1980s. “It was lucky that
Mr Peake was appointed as
headmaster [in 1983],” explains
Tim. “He had been the rowing
master at Eton, and the Boat
Club immediately became his
pet project. Things really took
off after that.”
Top achievers
Once again, Bishops boys have
been doing incredible things around
the world. Congratulations to:
Samuel Clarke (M), who placed
1st in the world in Persuasive
Speaking at the World Individual
Debating Championships in Bristol
in April, for his speech on how
deepfakes can destroy people’s
digital identities.
Zac Rosenberg (B) (1st in SA
for AS-level Economics), Jeremy
18 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
Bishops Rowing grew from humble
beginnings; the school’s first
equipment was a set of eight oars
from the UK donated by ODs in 1977.
The photos on the right, dug up by
Jonathan Dunn, show Bishops at the
1978 SA Champs, with John Rideout
in blazer; Jonathan and Mark Doyle
(1978F), same year; the victorious
Founders inter-house crew of 1977
– Dominic Ward (1977F), James
Sedgewick (1977 PM), Jonathan
and Mark Doyle (1978F). The budget
has improved somewhat since those
days; today, our rowers can practise
in the most sophisticated indoor
rowing facility in the country (above).
Liddle (G) (1st in SA for AS-level
Chemistry) and Billy Oriander (G)
(1st in SA for AS-level Music), who
were honoured at the Cambridge
awards ceremony in May.
Ben Honigwachs (F) and Dean
Weich (B) on becoming Space
Design Competition World
Champions in the US as part of
the South African team, in August.
Brent Cowden (M) and Matthew
Hume (M), who placed 1st in SA
out of 3,000 participants in the
Coronation Top Investor Challenge,
in August. Tasked with managing
a fictitious R1-million investment
portfolio, the pair navigated realworld investment scenarios to
top the leaderboard. Each won
R30,000 in unit trusts, while
Bishops received the trophy
and a R60,000 donation.
Bishops maths gurus, eight
of whom made it to the finals of this
year’s Maths Olympiad, in which the
country’s top 100 students compete.
