SUBC Masters Tasmanian Success at 2018 AMC

The women’s masters squad returned from the Australian Masters Rowing Championships at Lake Barrington in Tasmania last weekend well laden with medals. The five rowers plus our cox got through to 13 finals over the four days of competition, winning 5 1sts, 1 2nd and 3 3rds.

Central Tasmania offered most of its weather options during the event – cool temperatures, showers, winds so strong that boats could not be held at the start pontoons, heavily frosted launch pontoons, and …. crisp clear calm sunny days.

Back in Sydney, the squad is now preparing for NSW Masters Championships at SIRC on 26-27 May, and beyond, with various squad members also training for Henley Masters at Henley-on-Thames in July and the Head of the Charles in Boston in November.

                2018 Australian Masters Rowing Championships at Lake Barrington

4 NATIONS FUNDRAISER SET FOR FRIDAY 15th JUNE AT BOATHOUSE

The 2018 4 Nations Fundraiser to raise fund towards seat fees for nationally selected athletes in 2018 will start at 6.30 pm on Friday 15th June.

Members , parents and alumni please come along and support the club, athlets and parents'efforts to raise some of the $50,000 needed to support our athletes on tour.

Tickets $100 through Trybooking.com available now..

https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=380714

Parents/alumni  - can you help by:

1. Donating a prize to auction or raffle - like a holiday house / a harbour cruise for half a day for 8-1 people / a night or weekend somewhere cool and relaxing/ a service

2. If you can't come - make a tax deductible donation to the University of Sydney Sports Foundation. Email boat@tnw.com.au for a donation form.

3. Round up a group of friends and come along for a fun night of rowing socializing !!

SEE YOU ON 15th JUNE

Warming up for Chilly Tassie

The club’s women’s masters' squad are currently deep in preparations for the Australian Masters Championships, which this year are at Lake Barrington, in Tasmania, 10-13 May. 

Last time the AMC was at Lake Barrington, in 2011, the sleet began on the last racing day but the snow held off until we were loading the trailers to go home. The squad is hoping the weather will be even kinder this time so we can really enjoy this beautiful if remote, venue.

The six athletes attending the Championships this year are training 4-8 on-water sessions per week, plus 2-4 off-water sessions, in preparation for racing in 2-s, 2xs, 4-s, 4xs, and 8+s (composites with others clubs).  As a warm-up, the squad has taken advantage of the specialist masters regattas on Iron Cove – last week at the Drummoyne Masters Regatta we took out one 1st, one 2nd, two 3rds and a 4th.

The Tassie Team 2018  is pictured with their coach Phil Titterton.

Eight SUBC Rowers Selected in 2018 Aussie U23, U21 and Junior Teams

Rowing Australia today announced the Junior and Under 23 teams set to compete at their respective World Rowing Championships this year, as well as the Under 21 team set to race in the 2018 Trans-Tasman Regatta against New Zealand.

Australia will be represented by seven crews at the 2018 World Rowing Junior Championships set to be held from 8 to 12 August in Racice, Czech Republic. Seven crews will also be competing for Australia at the 2018 World Rowing Under 23 Championships due to be held in Poznan, Poland from 25 to 29 July.

The U21 Australian Rowing Team will compete in Sydney from 28 to 30 June and then again on Lake Karapiro in New Zealand, from 23 to 25 August. The team will be looking to retain the Rusty Robertson Trophy in the annual Trans-Tasman Regatta. The U21 series is a positive development opportunity for Australia’s Pathway athletes transitioning between the Junior (U19) and Under 23 categories.

Deputy Performance Director, Jaime Fernandez, said of the selection announcement today: “The standard and depth of the triallists and crews in 2018 is very pleasing. A number of the athletes/crews selected have been performing strongly throughout the season and we look forward to their continued improvement and positive performances, along with wishing them the best of success at their respective competitions.”

Near the top of the selection performances in the U23 category were The SUBC pair of Judge and O'Brien and the U23 Lightweight Double of SUBC's Leon Chambers and UTS's Matt Curtin.

Athletes selected from Sydney University were:

Andrew Judge, Jack O'Brien       U23 Pair

Leon Chambers                          U23 Lightweight Double Scull

Wallis Russell                                U23 Women's Lightweight Scull

Matt Murray and Michael Franz      U21 National Team

Rachel Balcomb and Ella Mentzines   Junior Women's Coxed Four

Boat Club on Top in Close 2018 National's Tussle

The battle between SUBC and Sydney Rowing Club for the most successful club at the 2018 National Rowing Championships went down to the wire with the last day’s events separating the two clubs by 4.5 points.

                               2018 CLUB POINT SCORE FOR THE CENTENARY OAR

                                    Rank                           Club                           Points

                                        1.                 Sydney University                  272

                                         2.                Sydney Rowing Club              267.5

                                         3.                 Mercantile Rowing Club         157.75

                                         4                 Toowong Rowing Club            153

                                         5                  UTS Rowing Club                   152.75

Mercantile of Victoria was third, Toowong of Brisbane fourth and UTS Rowing Club was firth.

In all Sydney University Boat Club won 10.25 Golds, 8.25 Silver, and 7.5 Bronze – edging Sydney by a quarter of a gold and a quarter of a bronze medal.

BOAT CLUB SCOOPS TITLES AT SYDNEY UNI SPORTS AWARDS 2018

Wallis Russell (Boat) and Belinda Snell (Sydney Uni Flames) shared the 2017 Female Sportswomen of the Year award, while Anthony Hrysanthos (Water Polo) was named Sportsman of the Year at a packed annual presentation dinner in the Great Hall last night.

Boat Club President Sarah Cook accepts the Ann Mitchell Trophy at the 2018 Sydney Uni Sports Awards

In a year of outstanding performances, Russell and Snell were up against Clare Hunt (Soccer), Michelle Jenneke (Athletics) and Holly Crawford (Snow Sport).

Belinda is the captain of the Brydens Sydney Uni Flames and long-term Australian women’s basketball star. She is also currently competing with the Australian Opals Squad at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Snell has represented the Opals at three Olympics Games and two Commonwealth Games and at World Championships and was named the University of Sydney Female Blue of the Year for 2017, as Captain of the Flames 2016-17 Championship winning side.

Wallis is a talented rower who, despite still being classified as a Junior (Under 19) in 2017, competed in Under 23 and Open aged events with great success. At the 2017 NSW State Championships, Wallis won four gold medals in the Under-23 Lightweight Women’s Single Scull, Under-23 Lightweight Women’s Double Scull, Open Women’s Eight, and Open Lightweight Quadruple Scull. 

Wallis was a member of the winning Women’s Eight from SUBC at the prestigious Gold Cup regatta. She also stroked the winning Sydney University Women’s crew in the Australian Boat Race, winning the Bella Guerin trophy for the first time. Wallis was also selected onto the 2017 Australian Rowing team in the Under-23 Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Scull, who placed 6th at the World Championships. 

The Professional Administrator of the Year Award went to Dustyn Butler (Boat Club) in a field that included Dale Bryant (Cricket Club), Jack Prato (Australian National Football Club), Stephanie Glanville-Fyfe (Soccer Football Club) and Kirsty Stevens (Football Club).

The Ann Mitchell Award for the Most Outstanding Performance at the Australian University Games or Australian University Championships went to the Boat Club after the club dominated 2017 AUG Rowing. Other nominations were Athletics (Women) and Soccer (Women).

Sydney University Boat Club was the only sport to win both the Men’s and Women’s 2018 AUG titles. The team won gold medals in several events, including women’s lightweight single scull, women’s lightweight quad scull, women’s coxed four, mixed eight, mixed four, men’s pair, men’s coxed four and men’s Eight (Oxford and Cambridge Cup). 

The Premier Club of the Year was shared by the Boat Club and Sydney Uni Flames in a hot field that included the Women’s Water Polo Club, the Athletics Club and the Cricket Club.

SUBC celebrated its most successful year on record. Notable results included the women winning the Bella Guerin trophy in the Australian Boat Race for the first time and claiming Men’s, Women’s and Overall point scores at the Australian University Games. SUBC also topped the pointscore at the 2017 NSW State Rowing Championships and Jack Hargreaves claimed gold at the 2017 World Championships, the first time Australia has won this event since the Oarsome Foursome 26 years ago. SUBC provided 12 athletes on the Australian Rowing team, including Open and Under 23s, in 2017.

The club also opened their new SUBC Thyne Reid Boathouse at Linley Point and established an SUSF Rowing scholarship, named the Jane Spring Scholarship. And club treasurer John Boultbee was awarded the prestigious World Rowing Distinguished Service Award to Rowing. 

The Premier Coach of the Year award was shared by Alfie Young (Boat Club) and Cheryl Chambers (Flames) in a field that included Robert Taylor (Men’s Rugby) and Tom Morrison. This recognition for Alfie Young followed his naming as Rowing Australia’s Development Coach of the Year in 2017.

             Wallis Russell joins the athlete panel at the 2018 Sydney Uni Sports Awards

Sydney University Boat Club Named 2018 Club Champions.

SUBC has been confirmed as the winner of the  2018 Australian Championships heading the point score table with 272 points - just edging out Sydney Rowing Club on 267.5 with Mercantile Rowing Club of Melbourne third on 157.75.

The statement of Rowing Australia is below:

“Sydney University Boat Club named Champions of the Club Points Score

 At the conclusion of the 2018 Aon Sydney International Rowing Regatta, a review of the Champion Club Points Score table was completed and it was noted that a calculation error had been made. 

 Rowing Australia wish to confirm that Sydney University Boat Club (SUBC) are in fact the winners of the 2018 Champion Club Points Score, and not Sydney Rowing Club, as was originally communicated. We sincerely apologise to the members of Sydney Rowing Club for the calculation error. We would like to heartily congratulate SUBC on being named the 2018 Champions of the Club Points Score and thank them for their understanding over the matter. 

 We are working with Sydney University Boat Club and Rowing New South Wales for a suitable opportunity to present SUBC with the Champion Club Points Trophy.”

The Boat Club congratulates all major clubs who contributed to making the 2018 Sydney International Regatta a great success.

The full Point Score table is at: http://sirr.rowingaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-CLUB-POINT-SCORE-FOR-THE-CENTENARY-OARv2-1.pdf

Strong Performances by SUBC Athletes at the 2018 National Titles

A team of fifty nine SUBC rowers and five coaches helped lead New South Wales clubs and our Interstate Team to some dominant performances at the 2018 Sydney International Regatta.

At the conclusion of the regatta the Boat Club narrowly led Sydney Rowing Club in the medals table by just one quarter of gold and one quarter of a bronze medal. Toowong of Brisbane and Mercantile of Melbourne were third and fourth.

Rank            Club/School                   State      Gold     Silver       Bronze           Total Medal

1                  Sydney University           NSW       10.25     8.25         7.5                       26.0

2                 Sydney Rowing Club        NSW       10.0       8.25        7.25                      25.5

3                  Toowong                         Qld           5.75      7.5          1.125                     14.125

4.                 Mercantile                        Vic           5.0        3.875      8.5                       17.375

The full medal table is at :https://ra.rowingmanager.com/?medals;regatta=3750

Some of the outstanding gold medal results came in the U23 pair of Andrew Judge and Jack O’Brien who then teamed with the gold medal U21 pair of Marcus Britt and Will O’Shannessy to win the U23 four and then with a number of our scullers to win the U23 men’s eight.

Our U23 women’s pair of Dyone Bettega and Lauren Fornasaro won gold in the U23 four with rowers from WA Rowing club, having earlier won silver in the U23 pair.

Our scullers also got amongst gold with Wallis Russell winning the U23 women’s lightweight single in a tight race and then picking up further golds in the U23 lightweight double and quad.

Leon Chambers also won two golds in lightweight sculling – first in the single, then in the double with UTS’s Matt Curtin.

Among our NTC athletes Georgia Miansarow won two golds – in the open women’s lightweight quad and the open heavyweight quad.

One of the most exciting races in the regatta was Fiona Ewing of SUBC and Olympia Aldersley of Adelaide Rowing Club holding off the much bigger crew of Goodman and Edmunds to get to the line first by a tiny margin only to be relegated after their boat came in 100 gms underweight – a heartbreaking and expensive lesson.

Rio Olympic silver medalist Sasha Belonogoff picked up gold in the men’s open quad on his first return to nationals since 2016.

Kieran Riach also claimed gold in the U19 quad scull, the composite crew found form late in the race, holding off a strong charge from the Mosman crew.

Finally our development U21 women’s eight won the Club women’s eight to round out the club’s gold medals. The crew of Michaela Franz, Sarah Parsons, Jaime Ford, Raquel Cuevas, Jess Robinson, Amelia Johnson, Rachel Balcomb, Ella Mentzines and Cox: Talia Barnet-Hepples finished 10 seconds ahead of Sydney Rowing Club with Uni of Queensland in third,

Athletes taking silver medals also put in some outstanding performances. 2017 World Champion in the men’s four, Jack Hargreaves had a great exhibition of sculling to finish second in the men’s heavyweight scull. In the women’s event, Gen Horton took silver behind Maddie Edmunds while in the open men’s double Campbell Watts teamed up with Hamish Playfair to take silver.

Other silver medals were won in an excellent row by the opne men's pair of “brotherly love” Alex and Nick Purnell. The U23 pair of Bettega and Fornasaro picked up a silver in a composite women’s eight and another silver in the full SUBC U23 women’s eight of Jaime Ford, Jess Robinson, Amelia Johnson, Raquel Cuevas, Lauren Fornasaro, Ella Mentzines, Rachel Balcomb, Dyone Bettega, Cox: Talia Barnet-Hepples.

More silver medals came from Rachel Balcomb and Ella Mentzines in the U19 women’s four, Matthew Murray in the U21 single and from Jaime Ford and Raquel Cuevas in the U21 women’s pair.

Bronze medalists were Rowena Meredith in the open women’s single, Georgia Gotch in the open women’s pair. Alex and Nick Purnell grabbed bronze in the open men’s double. Other bronze medal winners were Georgia Miansarow, Leon Chambers, Lizzie Treloar, Michaela Franz (2), Sarah Parsons, Jaime Ford, Raquel Cuevas, Amelia Johnson, Jess Robinson, Cox: Talia Barnet-Hepples and Kieran Riach.

Having secured a narrow in the medals table Sydney Uni rowers and coaches then set about contributing to the strong New South Wales performance in the Interstate Regatta. About half the athletes in the NSW team were from SUBC.

Georgia Miansarow grabbed gold for NSW in the state’s first win in the women’s lightweight quad and then Leon Chambers was part of the NSW men’s lightweight four that demolished the field winning gold by over 12 seconds. This was the first NSW win in the Penrith Cup since 1998 when three SUBC rowers (Wiseman, Hedley and Major and Coach HP Madritsch) were in the winning crew.

Cam Girdlestone grabbed a bronze in a tightly fought President’s Cup Sculls behind Alex Hill and Dave Watts.

The men’s Youth Eight streeted the field to record News South Wales‘s another win in this event. Six SUBC athletes were in this crew.

In the open eights New South Wales finished with silver in the women’s eight while  the men’s King’s Cup crew pulled away from Victoria in the second 500 ( after suffering and earlier crab on stroke side) to win their second King’s Cup in a row and the ninth win in eleven years.

SUBC Coaches Don McLachlan, Dustyn Butler, Alfie Young and Debbie Fox were important contributors to our state’s success.

New South Wales finally won the Interstate Regatta Rowing Australia Cup for the second successive year with 61 points – ten points clear of Victoria.

SUBC Alumus Marks 8 Years Coaching Vietnam Team at SIRR 2018

For the last 8 years, former SUBC and national cox Joe Donnelly has been coaching and assisting the Vietnamese Rowing Team in his own time and with the support of a number of benefactors including other SUBC alumni , Steve Newnham and Phil Walker.

Here is Joe's report on the recent stay in Australia of the Vietnamese Rowing Team and their competition at the Sydney International Regatta.

This year SUBC lent the team a boat - Joe's note of thanks is also below.

From Joe Donnelly

"Just a short note to thank you all for the loan of the W4- for the 5 weeks my team was in Australia. Your support like many others has enabled the Vietnamese team to come to Australia to prepare for the Asian games in August ."

Joe's full report to supporters of the team:

"Dear friends and benefactors,
The Vietnam rowing team has now returned to Vietnam after an improved and successful 5-week visit to Australia.
The 5 weeks included a 4-week training camp in Orange supported by Charles Sturt University, Kinross Wolaroi School, Hertz bus rental, Sharyn and Jamie Gordon and Beth and Greg Michell.
Boats were also provided by Sydney University and especially ALAN Phillips from Race 1 who has helped with boats for our team now for the past 8 years.
Other major supporters are the financial benefactors especially Bill Magennis, Steve Newnham and Phil Walker. Without contributions from these people and many others, the team could not come to Australia to prepare for the Asian Games in August of this year.
The 4-week training in Orange allowed positive improvement for all athletes, with good weather for training, substantial food to support the training program and good equipment made available by the school.
This year the team has also been able to access protein from True Protein organised by Ms Hanh the head of rowing in Vietnam and funded by the province of each rower. We thank Justin and Jess from this company for their assistance and the discount price they offered to enable us to get sufficient material to support the rowers up to the Asian Games in August.
The racing in Sydney showed the benefits of the protein with none of the rowers fading in there performance at the 1200 meter mark which has been a major problem for the team in the past. In the Under 21 LW1X where the gold medal was won by Ms Thao, she came from 6th at the 500mtr mark and 6 seconds behind, to 4th at the 1000mtr mark and 5 seconds behind, to 2 nd and 2 seconds behind at the 1500 meter mark . In the last 500 mtrs she moved through the early leaders and the semi-final winner from Sydney University to win the race by 2 seconds.
The results this year in Australia were the best we have ever achieved and the results are the outcome of the comments above.
The team won 1 gold medal and 1 bronze medal and performed very well in every race. Unfortunately, there was a big storm on Saturday afternoon causing the sprint race to be cancelled. Unfortunately for Vietnam, that was also a race where I feel that our W4X would have won a 3 rd medal.
Overall the races contested, we made 4 A finals winning the Gold medal in the Under 21LW1X and a Bronze medal in the LW4X . We also made 3 B finals winning the W1X and the LW1X by considerable margins and in times that would have placed them 7th in the A finals.

Now the team will continue its preparation for the Asian Games competing in Asian Cup 1 in Singapore in April and Asia Cup 2 in Korea in June.
Thank you again to all of the benefactors around the world that support our team and I hope that we can now deliver our best results ever at the Asian Games in Indonesia in August.
Regards
Joe Donnelly
Coach
Vietnam

INVITATIONS FLOW IN FOR WINTER COMPETITIONS

Sydney University Boat Club as winner of the 2017 Australian University Games will host the 2018 Tran Tasman competition against New Zealand Universities. This tour will be at the beginning of July.

In addittion we will have men's and women's eights attending the major China International Universities Rowing Regatta in mid-late July and a men's and women's fours attending the DGIST World University Rowing Festival in Daegu Korea from 20-26th August.

The Sydney Uni Wmen's Four and the Harvard Men's Four after winning the mixed eight at the 2017 DGIST World University Rowing Festival in Daegu , Korea.

Boat Club Masters Shine Off Water at the 2018 National Rowing Champs

Now that the Nationals are over for 2018 we can update our story on our Masters and Alumni who assisted at the Championships as volys (volunteers).

While our rowers were heading the medal table and our coaches were wrestling with duties in the boat park and on the cycle track the masters toiled away behind the scenes.

In addition to the volunteers listed below Susie Edwards - an alumnus and social masters cox also joined the SUBC contingent and Lizzi Chapman (The Tikki Fullerton of Rowing) as usual provided wonderful commentary during the regatta for both racing and presentations.

A group of Boat Club masters and alumni have graciously volunteered to assist at the 2018 Australian Rowing Championships starting this Monday 19th March at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

Above, Gillian O'Malley, Annabel Childs and Anne Titterton volunterring at SIRR 2018

Hundreds of volunteers doing jobs ranging from race officials, timekeepers, judges, weight stewards, managing bow numbers, assisting with presentations and athlete welfare help the event run smoothly for the thousands of competitors.

This year Annabel Childs, Stephanie O'Malley, Gillian O'Malley, Anne Titterton and Phil Titterton (both SUBC Blues) and alumnus Katie Kershaw will be covering the above range of tasks during the regatta.

There will be others - who we will acknowledge later in the week - but one who deserves a special mention is 1966 Blue in Lightweight Rowing, Phil Titterton. Phil has been one of the main regatta infrastructure volunteers over many years at both News South Wales and Australian Rowing Championships. Phil has also given his time over a long period coaching masters women at SUBC and organising and rowing in masters crews at Mosman Rowing Club. Phil has been acknowledged by Rowing NSW in past years as Volunteer of the Year.

Phil Titterton 1966 SUBC Blue, Masters Rower, Coach, Volunteer

Gillian and Stephanie O'Malley at SIRR 2018

New Boat Club Scholarship named after Jane Spring

At the Thyne Reid Boathouse, last Saturday 10th  March a new rowing scholarship was named after long-term Sydney Uni Women's Rowing Club's former President, Jane Spring. 

The speech recognizing Jane's achievements below was delivered by Boat Club Blue, Anne Titterton.

"On behalf of SUBC it is my pleasure to speak about Jane as we recognize her remarkable contribution to rowing and to the University by naming a perpetual scholarship in her honour.  We warmly welcome a number of Jane’s family who are here today to share this special occasion, as well as her many friends.

"Jane Spring is a woman of significance and substance in the history of rowing at Sydney University and, more broadly, through her contribution to sports administration both at University and State levels.  Remarkably, she follows a great family tradition of contribution to the University. Her grandfather, Sir Frederick Deer was a Fellow of Senate for 24 years and received an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his service.

Fortunately for SUBC, and the former Sydney University Women’s Rowing Club, we have been the beneficiary of her remarkable vision, her capacity for big picture thinking, her energy and commitment.  Her determination and resourcefulness when faced with a challenge are the stuff of legends. 

Jane found rowing relatively late in her time at University.  By 1986 Jane was hooked and went to Intervarsity as a single sculler – coached by the legendary Olympic and national coach Maurie Grace.  In the same year, she was elected President of the Women’s Rowing Club – the journey we celebrate today had begun!

 In 1986 the Women’s Rowing Club owned four boats: a pair, two fours and a speedboat.  The Club existed on several racks in the former A frame men’s shed here at Linley Point and annual club funding from the Women’s Sports Association was $1,250.  Coaches were volunteers, fundraising was basic and we were still waiting for someone like Jane to work out how to gain tax deductibility for donations!  It was from this very low base that she set to work!

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Jane finished Law, worked full time, was admitted as a Solicitor, poured energy into building the club and set her sights on gaining national selection as a lightweight rower.  Along the way she found the time to contribute to the Women’s Sports Association as Vice President, as well as sitting on many University sport committees – including the Blues Committee, Building & Grounds and Finance Committees of the Sports Association.

Returning from a regatta in Taree in 1990, Jane was catastrophically injured in a car accident.   The accident took place a week after Jane won the Australian lightweight double scull and had been on track to represent Australia in the World Championships later in the year.  

Jane would say that rowing saved her life.  She drew strength and purpose from the people around her, particularly her former coach and now husband, Murray Clarke, family and close friends. 

At this time, her involvement in rowing brought other friendships and new directions.  In 1994 an opportunity arose to buy the former Glebe Rowing Shed.  With her father, Ian Spring’s, help, then Chancellor Dame Leonie Kramer was convinced to lend the Women’s Sports Association the funds to buy the Glebe shed and to provide room for the Women’s Rowing Club to expand. Jane came to know Dame Leonie well over the years and treasured this friendship.

 John Coates had supported Jane, too, as mentor and referee following the car accident.  Six years working at SOCOG taught Jane a great deal about what was required to create the optimal environment for elite athlete performance and gave her the opportunity to learn leadership and management skills essential for the rowing club and for her career.

With the boathouse at Glebe the Women’s Rowing Club was able to rapidly expand and in the first season won the NSW Premiership point-score for the University – the first time since 1910.  Masters were invited to join the Club and there was at last room for a large novice program.  Jane also mentored many students, creating a healthy and inclusive culture and always with good governance.  She coached many rowers and was adept at recognizing and catering for emerging talent such as Brooke Pratley, who retired with a Silver Medal after the London Olympic Games.

As a Rowing Delegate for Australian University sport she worked with husband Murray Clarke to get the Trans Tasman races with New Zealand established – giving students much needed international racing experience.

Jane also contributed to NSW rowing – participating actively to protect rowing safety on Sydney Harbour.  She worked on the master plans for Blackwattle and Rozelle Bays and became an effective advocate for rowing, working closely with the Glebe Society and other community and business groups.  Never shy to put out a press release, Jane actively campaigned against the Dry Boat Store in Rozelle Bay including holding a “Mass Row Protest’.   

She was appointed a member of the Community Reference Group for the Bays Precinct set up by Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, in 2009 and joined activists from Balmain, Rozelle and Glebe, successfully making the protection of rowing and other forms of passive recreation a central platform of the group’s response to government.

Andrew Judge is congratulated as the recipient of the Jane Spring Scholarship

In 2009  Jane was asked whether she might consider running for Senate of the University.  During her time on Senate, she championed the value of the student experience.   Notably, she was also a member of the Nominations and Appointments Committee and was honoured to be part of the process that resulted in the election of our wonderful Chancellor, Belinda Hutchinson.  Jane was also involved with the work the University did to fund and develop this boathouse, as part of the Building & Estates Committee.  

Jane has a Service Award, a Blue for Rowing, was Sportswoman of the Year in 1990, a Gold Award and is an Honorary Life member of the Boat Club and both Sydney University Sport and the University of Sydney Union and was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.  Jane has also been awarded the Rusty Robertson Award by NSW Rowing and was presented with a NSW Government Community Service Award.

In 2008, Jane’s contributions were further recognized when she was conferred with an Honorary Fellowship of the University.  The citation says in part:

“For nearly two decades Jane Spring has been an inspiration and an example to the University community of how to meet and triumph over adversity and face disability with courage, determination and intelligence. Her story and her accomplishments personify Sydney University’s central ideals and vision.”

And now, nearly three decades later, Jane’s life has been inextricably woven through the fabric of women’s rowing at this university, and most fittingly now into a vibrant, dynamic amalgamated Sydney University Boat Club.

Thankyou, Jane, for all that you have done."

Andrew Judge is congratulated by Jane Spring.

Drama at the 2018 Riverview Gold Cup

Wow – the 2018 Riverview Gold Cup suffered from low entries due to timing and a clash with the Schoolgirl Head of the River but this year the  races provided more drama than most races over the years.

The 134th Riverview Regatta and the 125th Gold Cup saw SUBC with a strong performance winning both the men’s and women’s open eights for the Gold Cup's. The club also had a good representation in other events, with the masters women’s eight racing, along with a number of development crews in the b-grade quads and fours.

The women’s race saw two SUBC crews line up against each other, with the younger of the crews having a good start in lane two, however, the power and experience of the elder of the two crews quickly closed that gap and went on to win by a number of lengths. A strong showing from the club’s women’s group. The winning crew will form the bulk of the SUBC U23 Eight for the national Championships with a number of the athletes also doubling up in the NSW Youth Eight.

Women's Captain Dyone Bettega with Women's Gold Cup

.The new Women’s Gold Cup was presented to the crew and stroke and women’s Captain, Dyone Bettega. This win made it two in a row for the SUBC Women in this event.

In the men’s race, the two favoured entries were Sydney Uni and Sydney Rowing Club. The other entries in the final – Shore, Riverview and Kings withdrew creating a “match race “in lanes 1 and 2 between these two club crews.

SUBC and SRC were in lanes2 and 1 on the southern (leaning pile) side of the course. As the race got underway SUBC had the angle lead on Sydney. The Sydney crew soon moved over towards the SUBC boat the as the crews clashed blades the umpire’s flags were up urging both crews to move apart.

The crews were neck and neck, ratings were up over forty. As they approached the turn it was Sydney Uni showing out but with the inside lane Sydney made up ground and threw down a real challenge the Sydney Uni.

After absorbing a storming finish by Sydney the SUBC crew pushed out to cross about two seconds ahead of Sydney.

The drama started as soon as the finishing beeps emanated from the judge’s tower. Sydney was protesting the early clash, lodging a protest claiming they had been impeded by Sydney Uni.

The umpires conferred. After five or ten minutes they felt that both crews contributed to the clash and the decision was to re row the race immediately.

The SUBC crew was a younger mix of U23 and U21 athletes while the Sydney crew claimed more experience with seniors like Ed White, Chris Morgan, Kurt Spencer and Alex Lloyd and some U 23 and U21 rowers.

Some of the Sydney crew had not been in full training and could have been considered to be more handicapped by having an immediate second race.

This proved not to be the case –as the second race followed a similar format to the first, with SUBC in lane two starting up on the stagger to SRC in lane one. Both crews showed passion early in the race, with the boats coming close, however, no clashing this time. SUBC pulled away throughout the middle stages, showing great length and accuracy. The young SUBC crew went on to win by just under a length. The crew consisted of seven of the athletes that SUBC will be boating into the U23 Eight for the National Champs, with a number of the crew also representing in various NSW State Crews.’

After three wins in a row, Sydney Rowing Club defended their tile with a lot of determination and courage. The result was a truly great Gold Cup men’s final with Sydney Uni opening up a lead and Sydney fighting all the way in the final straight to cut this back and pass uni.

According to the evergreen President of Sydney Rowing Club, Keith Jameson – it was likely that the last final rerowed was around 1961 and some fifty-seven years later history was repeated.

Congratulations to both crews on an absorbing final of this iconic race.

The 2018 Winning Gold Cup Crews

                                                        Women                                                                  Men

                                     Cox:         Dani Pettit                                                                               Will Raven

                                  Stroke:        Dyone Bettega                                                                         Jack O'Brien

                                          7.        Lauren Fornasaro                                                                        Andrew Judge
                                          6.        Ella Mentzines                                                                           Will O'Shanness

                                           5.        Rachel Balcomb                                                                         Marcus Britt

                                          4.       Amelia Johnson                                                                          David Bartholot

                                          3.      Jess Robinson                                                                             Leon Chambers

                                          2.      Raquel Cuevas                                                                             Keiran Riach

                                     Bow.      Jamie Ford                                                                                   Matt Murray

                               Coaches.     Debbie Fox                                                                                  Dustyn Butler

                                                   Alfie Young                                                                                   Don McLachlan

                                   Time:       5 mins 02.35                                                                                 4 mins 18.80

AUSTRALIAN BOAT RACE CONFIRMED SUNDAY 14th OCTOBER

The date for The 2014 Australian Boat Race ahs been confirmed as SUNDAY MORNING 14th OCTOBER.  Racing 8 am- 10 am window.

The course will start near Woolwich at Hunters Hill and finish at Darling Harbour.

SUBC Claim Victory at the NSW State Championships

SUBC have retained their title as the leading elite club in NSW with a dominant performance at the NSW State Rowing Championships, the club won both the point score and medal tally. The event doubled up as the first key selection event for the 2018 Australian Rowing Team, and the results put forward by our senior athletes place them in a strong position leading into the formalised national selection trials.

The Women's Elite Eights - Podium finishers 2018 NSW Championships.

Key results for the club came through the bigger boats, with SUBC taking out the double in the Men’s and Women’s Elite Eight’s, the first time this had been done by any club since 2011, when SUBC last claimed this feat. The Women’s race went exactly to plan, with a fast start, a well-paced middle, and blistering finish, the crew held off strong competition form Mercantile for the victory. The crew was Dani Pettit, Gen Horton, Rowena Meredith, Georgie Gotch, Fiona Ewing, Dyone Bettega, Lauran Fornasaro, Carina Simpson and Rach Balcomb. The Men’s race wasn’t as clear cut, the crew was overpowered by its strong bowside off the start, resulting in a not ideal first 500m, giving away a small margin to the rest of the field, the crew rallied through the middle thousand, and began reeling back the leading crews from Sydney Rowing Club and Mercantile, coming into the last 500 it was neck and neck between SRC and SUBC, with the SUBC crew winding home with a 1:21 last 500m, the crew went on to win by clear water over the field. The crew was Will Raven, Alex Purnell, Jack Hargreaves, Jack O’Brien, Cam Girdlestone, Campbell Watts, Nick Purnell, David Bartholot and Andrew Judge.

The youth eights also showed strong form for the future of the club with the men claiming victory and returning the ‘Colleagues Cup’ back to SUBC for the first time since 2011, the women performed well, however had to settle for silver behind the Victorian crew from Mercantile. The Men’s race was a start to finish domination with the crew leading at every marker, and extending their lead as the race went on. The crew was Charlie Nicholas, Jack O’Brien, Leon Chambers, Will O’Shannessy, Marcus Britt, Kieran Riach, Lochie Miles, Devlin Walsh and Matthew Murray. The women had a blistering start, and along with Mercantile cleared out on the rest of the field, however the experience of the Mercantile crew proved too strong through the second thousand. The crew was Talia Barnet, Wallis Russell, Rach Balcomb, Ella Mentzines, Jess Robinson, Mia Johnson, Jaime Ford, Raquel Cuevas and Sarah Parsons.

Being a selection event, the small boats were in many instances the most important racing of the regatta. For the first time the men’s NTC decided to double up all the sweep athletes, to compete in both the single scull and the pairs. This decision resulted in one of the strongest sculling fields that Australia has ever witnessed for the men.

SUBC has a strong presence in the men’s scull with the club claiming Silver (Cam Girdlestone), 4th (Jack Hargreaves) and 6th (Nick Purnell in the A-final, with Campbell Watts coming off illness to take victory in the B-Final, with up and coming athlete David Bartholot hot on his tail, claiming second in the B-Final.

The men’s pair saw SUBC well represented with Jack Hargreaves claiming Bronze, Nick Purnell claiming 4th, and the U23 pair of Jack Obrien and Andrew Judge claiming 5th in the A-final. Alex Purnell won the B-Final.

The women’s scull saw SUBC with three athletes in the A-Final, with Gen Horton claiming Silver, Rowena Meredith in 5th and Fiona Ewing in 7th.

The women’s pair A-Final contained one SUBC athlete, with Georgie Gotch finishing in 4th.

The lightweight women’s scull saw SUBC represented by 2017 world silver medallist Georgia Miansarow, who claimed the bronze medal.

Medals in the underage small boat events for the club proved that SUBC are not only strong in the elite, but are one of the key development clubs in the country. In the U19 men’s single Kieran Riach claimed Bronze. In the U21 men’s single Matthew Murray claimed silver. In the U21 lightweight women’s single Michaela Franz claimed Bronze. In the U23 lightweight women’s single Wallis Russell claimed Gold. In the U23 lightweight men’s single Leon Chambers claimed Gold. In the U23 women’s pair Lauren Fornasaro and Dyone Bettega claimed Silver. In the U23 men’s pair Andrew Judge and Jack O’Brien claimed Gold. In the U21 men’s pair Will O’Shannessy and Marcus Britt claimed Silver.

Crew boat medals came from a mixture of club and composite crews, as combinations for the nationals were tested out. Along with the three gold and a silver already mentioned in the eights, SUBC crew boat results were strong. In the women’s Elite double Gen Horton claimed Gold, with the full SUBC crew of Rewena Meredith and Fiona Ewing claiming Silver. In the men’s Elite double Campbell Watts claimed Bronze. In the men’s Elite four Nick Purnell claimed Gold. In the U21 lightweight women’s double Michaela Franz and Sarah Parsons claimed Gold. In the U23 lightweight women’s double Wallis Russell claimed Gold. In the U23 lightweight men’s double Leon Chambers claimed Gold. In the LTA coxed four Will Raven claimed Silver. In the lightweight women’s quad Lizzie Treloar claimed Silver. In the men’s Elite quad Campbell Watts claimed Gold, with Devlin Walsh, Morgan Brooking, Kieran Riach and David Bartholot claiming Bronze.

On the pro-rata medal table, SUBC claimed 9 Gold, 7.25 Silver and 5 Bronze. On the point score the club finished up with 180 points, nearly 30 clear of the closest competitor. Congratulations to all athletes and thanks to all coaches, support staff, rowing NSW and Sydney Uni Sport for their contributions to such strong results for the club.

Full Results of the weekends racing can be found at: https://regattas.rowingnsw.asn.au/?results=3880

SUBC Women's Elite Eight

SUBC Men's U21 Eight

SUBC - 2018 NSW ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS ENTRIES

SYDNEY UNIVERSITY BOAT CLUB - 2018 NEW SOUTH WALES ROWING CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRIES

16-18th FEBRUARY 2018

#EventCrewGradeAthletes

6CMU19 1xSydney UniversityKieran Riach

7CWU21 1xSydney University 1Emma Jalalaty

7CWU21 1xSydney University 2Raquel Cuevas

8CMU21 1xSydney University 1Matt Murray

8CMU21 1xSydney University 2Jordan Duff

8CMU21 1xSydney University 3Nathaniel Young

9CWU23 1xSydney University 1Olina Parrish

9CWU23 1xSydney University 2Lizzie Treloar

10CMU23 1xSydney University 1Morgan Brooking

10CMU23 1xSydney University 2Devlin Walsh

11CWE 1xSydney UniversityCarina Simpson

12CME 1xSydney University 1Cameron Girdlestone

12CME 1xSydney University 2David Bartholot

13CWE 2-Sydney UniversityLauren Fornasaro,Dyone Bettega

14CME 2-Sydney UniversityAndrew Judge,Jack O'Brien

17CWU21L 1xSydney University 1Sarah Parsons

17CWU21L 1xSydney University 2Michaela Franz

19CWU23L 1xSydney University 1Wallis Russell

19CWU23L 1xSydney University 2Lizzie Treloar

20CMU23L 1xSydney UniversityLeon Chambers

31CWU21 8+Sydney UniversitySarah Parsons,Raquel Cuevas,Jaime Ford,Amelia Johnson,Jess Robinson,Ella Mentzines,Rachel Balcomb,Wallis Russell,Talia Barnet-Hepples(c)

32CMU21 8+Sydney UniversityMatt Murray,Devlin Walsh,Lachlan Miles,Kieran Riach,Marcus Britt,Will O'Shannessy,Leon Chambers,Jack O'Brien,Charlie Nicholas(c)

33CWU17 2xSydney UniversityMardi Downing,Maya Brooking

43CWU21L 2xSydney UniversityMichaela Franz,Sarah Parsons

45CWU23L 2xUTS/Sydney UniversityGeorgina Masters,Wallis Russell

45CWU23L 2xSydney University/Adelaide RCLizzie Treloar,Sophia Nery

46CMU23L 2xSydney University/UTSLeon Chambers,Matthew Curtin

50CME 4+Sydney UniversityJordan Duff,Morgan Brooking,Lachlan Miles,David Bartholot,Sam Nicholas(c)

54CWU23 2-Sydney UniversityLauren Fornasaro,Dyone Bettega

55CMU23 2-Sydney UniversityAndrew Judge,Jack O'Brien

62CWU21 4xSydney University 1Michaela Franz,Amelia Johnson,Raquel Cuevas,Ella Mentzines

62CWU21 4xSydney University 2Sophia Evstigneev,Olivia Dent,Clara Chambers,Emma Jalalaty

63CMU21 4xSydney UniversityMatt Murray,Jordan Duff,Kieran Riach,Devlin Walsh

64CWE 8+Sydney UniversityRachel Balcomb,Carina Simpson,Lauren Fornasaro,Dyone Bettega,Fiona Ewing,Georgina Gotch,Rowena Meredith,Genevieve Horton,Danielle Pettit(c)

65CME 8+Sydney UniversityAndrew Judge,Leon Chambers,Nicholas Purnell,Jack O'Brien,Cameron Girdlestone,Campbell Watts,Jack Hargreaves,Alex Purnell,William Raven(c)

75CWU21 2-Sydney University 1Amelia Johnson,Jess Robinson

75CWU21 2-Sydney University 2Rachel Balcomb,Ella Mentzines

75CWU21 2-Sydney University 3Jaime Ford,Raquel Cuevas

76CMU21 2-Sydney UniversityMarcus Britt,Will O'Shannessy

77CWU17 1xSydney University 1Maya Brooking

77CWU17 1xSydney University 2Mardi Downing

79CWE 4xSydney UniversityCarina Simpson,Lauren Fornasaro,Georgia Miansarow,Wallis Russell

80CME 4xSydney UniversityDevlin Walsh,Morgan Brooking,David Bartholot,Kieran Riach

REGISTER NOW -SUBC School Rowers Winter Program

SCHOOL ROWERS

 WINTER PROGRAM AND REGATTA

APRIL – JULY 2018

Are you a keen school rower in Years 10, 11 or 12 and looking to enjoy your sport and row out of Australia’s newest rowing facility and on Sydney’s best training water?

Give us a call and join our winter program starting 24th April and rowing twice per week. Finishing off with: The Winter School Regatta

MINIMUM STANDARD C2 ERG: Boys 6.45: Girls 7.40

We have a maximum of 20 positions for boys and 20 positions for girls.

Participation will be subject to selection criteria so please apply early

Applications forms may be sent to boat@tnw.com.au         Cost $350 (plus $20 SU Sport)

SYDNEY UNI ELITE ROWERS SHINE AT 2018 SMALL BOAT REGATTA

The traditional curtain raiser for the main competitive season, The New South Wales Rowing Small Boats Regatta was held last week at Penrith in warm conditions with high humidity.

This is also an important selection regatta for the New South Wales State team.

Sydney University athletes excelled with some terrific performances.

Gen Horton from the NTC Penrith took out the women’s single from a top-class field that included Australian best female rowers. Cam Girdlestone won the men’s elite single.

In U23’s Morgan Brooking was the winner in the men’s single, Andrew Judge and Jack O’Brien won the U23 pair in the smart time of 6 m 41 secs.

The U21 men’s pair was a close tussle between Marcus Britt and Will O’Shannessy of SUBC and the Sydney Rowing Club pair of Nichol and Kench. The two crews had a pitched battle for the lead from 400 meters out with the Sydney Uni pair prevailing by just under two seconds in 6 m 46 secs. In the women’s U21 pair Rachel Balcomb and Ella Mentzines won easily in 7 m 47 secs. The same combination also won the U19 and U21 women’s pairs.

The open pair also went to Judge and O’Brien while another highlight for the club was the men’s U21 single scull where schoolboy member Keiran Riach won by two seconds from Matt Murray with Devlin Walsh in fourth – all from SUBC.

In lightweights Wallis Russell continued her excellent 2017 form finishing fourth in the open lightweight women’s single behind three athletes from the NTC including SUBC's Georgia Miansarow in third. Wallis then combined with Georgie Masters of UTS to win the women’s elite lightweight double scull in the outstanding time of 7 mins 08 secs.

The men’s U23 lightweight singles saw a stirring contest between Leon Chambers of Sydney Uni and Matt Curtin of UTS with Matt Curtin prevailing in what was a very quick time.

The next major test for our squads will come on 16-18th February at the New South Wales Rowing Championships. This regatta will have the top clubs from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland in attendance along with all National Training Centre athletes from Penrith and Canberra

Merry Christmas from Sydney Uni Boat Club

The Committee of Sydney University Boat Club wishes all our members, parents, coaches, support staff and stakeholders a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year in 2018.

Boultbee wins World Rowing's 2017 Distinguished Service Award

John Boultbee AM, has been recognised for his services to international rowing over forty-eight years at the FISA Gala Dinner in London yesterday December 8th.
John’s remarkable post-school career in rowing started at Burn’s Bay in 1968 when he joined the Sydney Uni Boat Club and coxed the Intervarsity Men’s Lightweight Four to a win in Perth in May that year.
Current SUBC President Sarah Cook in welcoming the award said: “Sydney Uni Boat Club was delighted and proud to learn that John Boultbee was awarded the Distinguished Service Award at the World Rowing Awards on Friday in London. John’s exceptional service to sport, but particularly rowing both in Australia and internationally over several decades is extraordinary. SUBC wouldn’t be what it is today without his contribution, most recently as the Treasurer, advisor on the High-Performance Committee, and donor. SUBC congratulates John on this well-deserved honour, and thanks him for his incredible and ongoing contribution to our club. “
John continued coxing SUBC crews as the club’s lead cox till 1971 and served as our club secretary in the early 1970’s. He was awarded a Sydney University Blue in 1969.
SUBC also launched John into sports administration when he was appointed as manager of the 1971 University Tour of New Zealand.
Following this early step, John joined the board of The New South Wales Rowing Association and served as Secretary among other positions.During this time John was completing his law degree at Sydney University. In the same year was John Coates and the two started what has been a lifelong friendship and a lifelong collaboration in sports administration in the Olympic Movement and in Olympic Sports.
John moved to London in 1975 to do a two year Master of Laws degree taking his coxing skills to the University of London, wearing his gaudy purple gear as he coxed their Grand eight at Henley in 1976.With two solid law degrees under his belt John returned to Sydney in 1976 and worked as a solicitor for a major law firm before moving to the bar and working as a barrister until 1989 at Wentworth Chambers.
During this period Boultbee and Coates were wielding a lot of influence at what is now Rowing Australia. The two of them showed extraordinary vision in bringing Reinhold Batschi to Australia as Head Coach of Rowing in 1979. With Reinhold’s appointment and the work of Boultbee and Coates the old state-based team selection was broken down as we moved to a national system that would greatly improve Australia’s rowing performances from the early eighties through to 2004.
From 1980 John served prominently on the Olympic Team firstly as Rowing Team Manager (1980 Moscow) and then as a member of the Australian Olympic Team headquarters team in 1984 and 1988.
During the eighties, John served on the Rowing Australia Board and coached the third and fourth Fours for Shore School. His record as a school coach was remarkable – coaching crews over ten years John’s crews recorded ten Head of River victories.
After the Seoul Olympics FISA was looking to set up a professional full-time office and John was appointed by Thomi Keller to head up the new FISA administration as its first full-time Secretary General.
John accepted the role, sold his chambers and moved to Switzerland. His transition to professional sports administrator was complete.
In 1995 with Sydney having won the 2000 Olympics John was drafted to become Director of the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. At a time when many sports had their main programs at the AIS John was able to lead and harness the personnel and facilities of the AIS to the degree that Australia was able to win 16 gold 28 silver and 17 bronze at the Sydney Olympics finishing 4th on the medal table – our best ever Olympic performance.
John finished at the AIS in 2001 and after a period of running his own consultancy in sport was appointed in 2004 by the Football Federation of Australia to establish and lead the High-Performance Unit. In this new role John was responsible for the performance of up to 11 national soccer teams from the Socceroos and Matildas down to the U17’s national teams.
During this period under John’s leadership of high performance the Socceroos broke the “Curse of Johnnie Warren” qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany (after last qualifying in 1974) and making it through to the round of 16, and again they qualified for South Africa 2010 and for Brazil 2014, and the Matildas qualified for 2 World Cups during this period and won the Asian Cup.
John left the FFA in 2013 to run for the position of President of FISA, having served on the FISA Council and Executive for 15 years. He was not voted into that role and the subsequent changes to the Olympic competition under alternate leadership has left many in rowing with a sense of regret regarding changes to the competition structure.
In 2014 John took up the role of High-Performance Director for Volleyball Australia – a position he still holds.
In addition, John was a Board member and Deputy Chair for Rowing Australia for a period of 12 years to 2015. John serves on the International Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing many cases since 1996 and contributing much to the CAS policy development.
He has been only the second Australian to become a Steward of the world’s most famous regatta, Henley. John has been a steward for over 25 years.
Boultbee has also served as a Director of Australia for UNHCR since 2000.
Finally, John has been a major supporter of his club, (Sydney University) through donations to the Boat Foundation and more recently a major donation to the fund for the just completed Sydney University Boathouse.
John has also assisted his club by serving as the Treasurer over the past two years.
Not all of John’s achievements have been listed here but his career in sport has seen him make incredibly important contributions to rowing in Australia and through FISA around the world. Similarly he has made very important contributions to Australian rowing through his involvement with Rowing Australia (of which he is an Honorary Life member) and to Australian sport more widely through the AIS, the Olympic teams and his involvement with football (soccer) and volleyball, and several other sports along the way.
John’s award reflects his incredible commitment to FISA and world rowing – originally through his work as the first Secretary-General and in the following twenty two years through his consistent work on various FISA Commissions.  Many new initiatives have happened during this time, including the introduction of the World Cup, the Under 23 World Championships, Para rowing and many more.

Congratulations John Boultbee on this well- deserved award.

Top: John Boultbee - circa 2012  Bottom:John Boultbee circa 1978