Riviera Water Bike Challenge Monaco 2017
Rugby star Percy Montgomery & swimmer Ryk Neethling take gold
The inaugural Riviera Water Bike Challenge took place on Sunday 4th June 2017, with teams of athletes and celebrities racing across the Mediterranean, between the city of Nice and the Principality of Monaco. on Schiller S1 water bikes.
The winners on the day were the team Foundation Francois-Xavier Mora, with captains Percy Montgomery, a retired South African rugby player, and Ryk Neethling, Olympic gold medal winning swimmer, also from South Africa. The Monaco Police and Team COCC took second and third places respectively.
The course took participants from La Plage Beau Rivage in Nice, 21kms across the water the finish at the Yacht Club de Monaco in the Port Hercule Marina, Monaco. HSH Prince Albert II, taking part himself, opened the race alongside the nine other teams. A minute of silence was observed before the start in memory of the victims from Saturday’s terror attack in London.
The unusual event was created by former rugby player and brother to Princess Charlene, Gareth Wittstock. Having tested the Schiller S1 water bike for the first time in the waters of Larvotto beach in 2015, he was hooked. He came up with the idea of the first-ever water bike relay race, a fundraiser, with all of the proceeds to go to his sister’s charity, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, established in 2012 to educate children in water safety and provide swimming lessons.
With this inaugural event being a great success for both participants and spectators it is hoped that this will be the first of many. We look forward to future events...and trying out one of those amazing looking bikes for ourselves!
