Koutayé Niang has been taking part in “the Saint-Louis regatta” for 20 years, but on Saturday, the day of competition in the former Senegalese capital, he lived “the best day of his life”.
This fisherman from the Guet N’dar district – like all his teammates – is the captain of one of the three victorious canoes in this traditional race, which has been the pride of the coastal town and its inhabitants for generations.
“Everyone who lives in my community, Dak, feels like royalty today,” savors the 43-year-old, wrapped in a flag in the red and green colors of his team. It ended the rival team’s five-year reign.
The Saint-Louis regatta takes place every year in the former French colonial capital of West Africa, some 250 km north of Dakar. Hundreds of men compete there in a two and a half kilometer race aboard long wooden canoes, on the estuary where the Senegal River flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
This competition has existed for more than a century, but it was only in the 1950s that the event took on its current form, the president of the organizing committee, El Hadj Moctar Gueye, told AFP.
“There are a lot more people now, and it’s more official,” says N’Deye Seck, 75, seamstress at the N’dar market and living memory of the neighborhood.
She remembers with nostalgia the day when her father and brothers took part in it in 1959, under the eyes of former French President Charles de Gaulle who came to Senegal on the eve of the country’s independence.
– Effervescence –
On Friday, a day before the big race of the year, the neighborhood of Guet N’dar was buzzing with nervous energy.
Men in traditional boubous for Friday prayers and women wrapped in elegant headscarves sought their way through streets full of joyful children, carts and animals.
Farther along the bank, an old man was chipping wooden planks into oars. At his side, younger people were painting them red and white.
The fishermen of Saint-Louis are divided into three teams, each representing a geographical part of the old quarter. Groups of 50 to 70 people from each team then compete in one of three race categories.
Younouss Dieye is already thinking regarding his race the next day. “I’m stressed – I won’t sleep tonight,” he told AFP. He is a rower for the Pondou Kholé team and has been training for the event for ten days.
At daybreak, the excitement increases once more. It’s a day of celebration. Young men play drums, spectators dance and blow whistles as the slender fishing boats, 15 to 20 meters, are launched.
The boubous of the day before have been replaced by colorful sports jerseys, in particular the jersey number 23 of the American basketball player of the Los Angeles Lakers, Lebron James, ubiquitous in the community of Pondou Khole, whose team colors are also yellow and blue.
Further down the riverbank, in the Dak community, spiritual leaders burn incense and break ice packs where boats are launched.
– The pride of a city –
This canoe race is a source of pride in Saint-Louis. “It’s the only truly local sport here,” enthuses Assane Diaw, a former competitor who says his family has been racing for a century.
In his grandfather’s time, the boats for racing were the same as those used for fishing. Now they are specially designed for the occasion.
In the followingnoon, when the competition begins, tens of thousands of spectators gather on the banks of the river.
To better see the show, young people gather on the Faidherbe bridge, a historic monument that connects the island of Saint-Louis and its fishing district.
The tension is growing. The fans get excited when the defending champions of Pondou Kholé start shouting at the rowers of the Dak team.
When the latter finally wins, some spectators are transported with joy. They jump into the water. The winners howl their happiness by beating themselves on the chest before returning their boat.
Saturday evening, Koutaye Niang, the captain, was in heaven.
“Guet N’dar is a village where everyone lives together – we share everything,” he explains. The sun sets behind his shoulders. The call to evening prayer sounds. “We are one and indivisible – the three teams are truly a family,” he said.
