Reindeer Regatta
Reindeer Regatta, held on the 4th December, was one of the first regatta’s of the season where our athletes have raced over 2km. The athletes had been in a hard training block so it was excellent to see so many athletes have excellent performances and get the club so many great results, despite being under fatigue. Some of our key results include our men’s open eight who rowed through the field to claim first place. The Women’s U21 double and Women’s open pair also claimed first place. SUBC claimed 1st-6th place in the women’s open single, with Tara Rigney winning the race, Kate Rowan placing second and Rowena Meredith claiming 3rd. These results are a great representation of the hard work the athletes have been putting in over the past few months.
NSWIS Awards
The NSWIS awards were held on the 25th November at the Royal Randwick Course in order to celebrate and honour the achievements of NSWIS athletes. SUBC had 3 athletes nominated for awards. Rowena Meredith was nominated for Academic Excellence, while Jack Hargreaves and Alex Purnell both won the Male Athlete's of the year awards. An excellent achievement.
Sydney University Blues Awards
On Friday the 26th November, the Sydney Uni Sport Blues Dinner was held at the Great Hall at on campus. We had 5 athletes receive their Blues Blazer's which recognises their high achievement in the sport. Congratulations to Lucy Coleman, Eleanor Price, Tom Anderson, Ella Mentzines and Wyatt Batt on being awarded their Blues Award. The Blues dinner also saw our Olympians from Sydney Uni recognised for their achievements. Congratulations to all of you!
Annual Dinner
After 2 years of postponement, the boat club was finally able to hold the Annual dinner for 2021. This year, it was held at Linley Point Boat Shed, in the Chris Noel Room, and the annual dinner organising committee put together a great dinner in celebration of the clubs achievements. Although it was a little different to the original annual dinner that had been planned, we still recognised the clubs achievements of both 2020 and 2021, as well as celebrated the award winners for 2021. Attended by around 90 people, including parents, athletes and NTC members, it was a great night to celebrate the major success of the club over the past season.
Below are just a few of the clubs major achievements over the last season.
Club Season
Won overall point score of NSW state champs 2021
Won overall point Score of Australian National Champs 2021 for the 3rd year in a row
State Teams
25 mentions in NSW state teams and 3 on other state teams
Pathway National Teams
2 men on the Australian Junior team
9 SUBC women on the U23 Australian rowing team
Olympics & Paralympics
7 Men and 5 women on the Australian Senior team with 9 athletes went on to race at the Olympics
1 athlete on the Paralympic team
SUBC athletes came away with 2 Gold medallists, 2 bronze medallists and every SUBC athlete finishing top 8 in the world.
Rowing NSW Presentations
Alfie Young Awarded coach of the year
Talia Barnett-Hepples awarded cox of the year
Tara Rigney awarded Oarswomen of the year
Cameron Girdlestone awarded Oarsmen of the year
SUBC won NSW honours recipients trophy
SUBC won the Women’s Elite and U23 Shield
Award Winners 2021
Club woman of the year: Ella Mentzines
Club man of the year: Miller Argent
Men’s pathway crew of the year: Jackson Kench and Will O’Shannessy ( Men’s U23 Pair)
Women’s pathway crew of the year: Sophie Houston (Women’s U23 1x)
Most improved female rower: Jaime Ford
Most improve male rower: Elliot Simpson
Rower of the year: Jack Hargreaves and Alex Purnell
Head coach’s award: Cameron Girdlestone and Rowena Meredith
The Rebecca Wilson shield: Tara Rigney (2021), Campbell Watts (2020)
Pictured: Award Winners 2021
2021/2022 State Team Squads Announced
The NSW State team squads have been announced and SUBC has 35 athletes and 1 coach in in the mix for state teams. If selected, these athletes will race at the 2022 Interstate Regatta in Penrith.
King's Cup
Alex Purnell
Jack Hargreaves
Cameron Girdlestone
David Bartholot
Jack O’Brien
Jackson Kench
Kieran Riach
Lachlan Miles
Marcus Britt
Will O’Shannessy
Danielle Pettit (Coxswain, also in Queen's cup squad)
Talia Barnet- Hepples (coxswain, also in Queen's cup squad)
Queen's Cup
Jaime Ford
Rowena Meredith
Ella Mentzines
Tara Rigney
Eleanor Price
Bicentennial Cup
Chelsea Prout
Ella Cassin
Emma Jones
Grace Livingstone
Grace Turner
Steffie Preller
Tiff Botha
Noel F Wilkinson Cup
Digby Leahy
Hamish Danks
Henry Ryan
Hugo Hobbs
Ryan Gibson
Sam Bristow
Hannah Scarborough (Coxswain)
Penrith Cup
Wyatt Batt
Victoria Cup
Annalise Isaacs
Georgia Miansarow
Lucy Coleman
Jack Hanley (Coach)
What's Next?
The athletes are currently on Christmas break, enjoying a well earned rest before heading to Taree camp which runs from the 2nd-13th of January in Taree, and then continues at SIRC for a couple of days after that.
Small Boats Regatta: 29th Jan 2022
NSW State Championships: 11-13th February 2022
2022 Australian Rowing Championships: 28th March- 3rd April
It has been an amazing year for the club, and our athletes have had a-lot of success during this first half of the season. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our coaches Don McLachlan, Alfie Young, Chris Holliday, Jack Hanley, Tom Laurich and Kit Cunningham Reid. There have been some difficult times this year, during extended periods of lockdown which saw the shut down of the club, but the smooth reopening of the boat club would not have been able to happen if it weren't for the very active committee who work hard to get athletes back on the water. SUBC wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.