Rowing Report
Saturday 1 February 2025
Shore Year 10 VIII’s Take Control of the Barwon River
In the days leading up to Australia Day, a squad of 36 rowers from the Shore Boat Club travelled south of the border to compete in the annual Barwon Regatta. This has been a mainstay on the rowing calendar for Shore over previous years as it gives the boys a great racing experience against the majority of the Victorian schools at the end of their training block.
This year, our crews were able to clean-sweep the Year 10 VIII categories with great wins in the Third, Second and First Year 10 races. It was also very pleasing to see our Fourth Year 10 crew win the C final of the Third Year 10 VIII category as well – a first win for many of these boys in their maiden rowing season.
The First Year 10 also qualified for the A final of the Under19 VIII as well, and in a very exciting race, they were able to take out the win over their rivals. A great race from a developing crew. Once the regatta was over, The Year 10 squad was awarded the “Jeff Watt” trophy, which is awarded to the school with the most wins in A finals – a first for the Shore at this regatta!!
GPS Squad Off to a Flyer in the First Regatta of the Racing Season
After a very short first week back at school, The GPS squad and the Year 10 VIII’s travelled out to Penrith to compete in what should be their “home field” regatta, the Shore Regatta!! This regatta saw all schools compete (apart from Sydney Boys High School due to their late start back at school) twice over the 2000m course.
I am very happy to report that the Shore crews had a very strong outing. Our Year 10 Squad were able to record four wins and four 2nd places from their eight starts, with strong performances coming from the middle of the programme, with the Second and Third Year 10 VIII claiming great wins in both their races.
Our Fourth Year 10 VIII recorded a great 2nd place, and our First Year 10 crew came up against a strong crew from Riverview. This is surely going to be a great division to watch over the next few weeks, as these crews are primed to battle it out!!
Our Senior Third VIII, under the guidance of new stroke seat Al Currie, thundered down the course and recorded two very strong 2nd places from their two starts. A great performance from a developing crew!
Our GPS IV+ had a very strong day at the regatta with strong performances across the board. The Fourth IV continued their impressive run of form with two very dominant wins (the first by a margin of 15 seconds), and our Third IV went almost just as well with two strong wins, both by double-digit margins (13 seconds and 11 seconds). This was all done under the watchful eye of Mr Garry Uebergang, who has returned to the shed in a coaching capacity along with recent Old Boy and current Olympian Mr Jackson Kench.
The GPS Second IV had a little harder time of it – recording a win in their first race by a good solid two seconds from a very spirited St Joseph’s crew to then have that margin flipped on them in the second race. Both these races saw a close tussle down the course, with only a small margin separating each crew for the 2000m.
The GPS First IV was the only crew on the day that had to contend against crews that were not traditional GPS rivals. St Augustine’s, as they have done in the past, competed in this category and were able to take out the first race, with the Shore crew coming in 2nd place just under a boat length behind and just under half a length in front of the Riverview crew. In the second round, it was Riverview and St Augustine’s that had an arm wrestle down the course, with the Shore boat sitting in 3rd place for the majority of the 2000m.
The GPS Second VIII raced next, and I am very pleased to say they knocked out two very pleasing victories by more than a boat length from their two starts. Both performances were characterised by a nice long rhythm that let the boat work for them and set up an emerging stern pair of Oli Paris and Ethan Nam.
The GPS First VIII closed out both rounds of racing in a very pleasing manner. In both their races, the Shore crew was able to lock down 2nd place behind a very impressive Riverview crew. On a very positive note, this was the first time this season that the crew had been able to piece together back-to-back performances, which will most certainly please the coaching staff.
Mr Glenn Bates
MIC Rowing