Rowing Nationals

Our Senior Boys Division 1 crew went to Sydney for the 2024 Australian Rowing Championships late Term 1. This was the first time since 2019 that a Ballarat High School crew had competed at the championships. This year was an historic year for Ballarat High School as it marked 50 years since we first competed at the Australian Rowing Championships back in 1974.

After winning a silver medal at the State Championships in early February, the crew were investigating competing at the Nationals. After some research it looked to be too expensive to go,however Janine, one of the boy's grandmothers, came to the rescue and donated a substantial amount of money to make the trip possible for the crew. The crew also went out to source some more sponsorship money and were successful in finding 4 local businesses to help them out. A big thank you to the following business for their donations: 

• Greenr Landscapes
• Denim Culture
• Waldron Heating Cooling and Hot Water
• Steve’s Fish and Chips

The crew raced their heat on the Thursday afternoon needing to come top 4 to skip the repechage but came a very close 5th meaning they had to race again on the Friday. They were the 2nd fastest ranked crew going into the repechage. It was a very close race with the boys qualifying for the semi final by 0.6 of a second! This race took a lot out of the boys which no doubt effected their energy levels for the semi final. The boys qualified for the B Final for the Sunday morning and went in with a terrific attitude to give it 100%. They started well, leading out of the blocks for the first few hundred meters but then the fatigue kicked in. They finished 6th in the B Final meaning they were ranked 12th in Australia, our best boys nationals result since 2018.

In between races the students enjoyed sightseeing around Sydney visiting: Kirribilli House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour precinct, China Town and Paddy’s Market. 

Overall, it was a great trip and hopefully will inspire some future rowers to want to compete at the Nationals over the coming years.

Congratulations to Loky Wallace, Rhys Webster, Matt Sorensen, Aiden Pynn and cox and captain Zoe Edwards. Big thank you to their coach Chris Nielsen, for doing a great job all season with the crew and team manager Traci Robins, for making the trip possible.

Rob Simmonds 

Rowing Director