With over 2100 athletes competing in 630 races, the 2025 Australian Rowing Championships had plenty to offer. The record number of entries showed the excitement around the sport in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics, while the racing was some of the closest seen in years.
But there were a few key themes that kept coming up.
The rise of junior super clubs?
The “Big Five” of Australian rowing – Sydney, Sydney University, UTS, Melbourne University and Mercantile – still dominate the medals and point scores. But this regatta saw juniors from Commercial, Mosman and Glebe Rowing Clubs do increasingly well. Commercial finished with two golds in the women’s U17 doubles and quads, with Eoghan Johnson winning gold for Brisbane State High in the schoolboy singles; Mosman with golds in the men’s U19 singles and doubles (the latter as a composite) and silvers in the schoolboy double and schoolgirl quad rowing as Northern Beaches Secondary School; while Glebe won gold in the women’s U19 doubles and a composite gold in the U19 quads, with Lucy Yabsley winning the schoolgirl single for the Ascham School.
Commercial and Mosman, in particular, have recruited some seriously talented junior rowers to their programs. It will be interesting to see whether they can retain them as they finish school or whether they move on to those high-performance clubs.
Sydney’s super sweepers
Speaking of high-performance clubs, Sydney Rowing Club dominated the sweep events towards the end of the regatta. They won gold and bronze in the men’s open and club eights, gold in the women’s U23 and U21 eights (the latter as part of a Swan River composite), gold in the men’s U21 eights, gold in the women’s club and U23 fours (the latter with Sydney University), and gold, silver and bronze in the club men’s fours.
As one of Australia’s high-performance clubs, Sydney expects to be near the pointy end of most of these events, but it’s doubtful anyone had this level of dominance on their ARC bingo cards.
South Australia on the rise
One of the astounding results of the regatta was the A-final of the open men’s single sculls. Four of the top five all train in Adelaide, with Oscar McGuinness backing his win up with another for South Australia in the interstate regatta. His club, Adelaide Rowing Club, had the third-most golds of anyone, with McGuinness and Mitchell Reinhard teaming up for gold in the open men’s doubles while Adam Holland won the U23 singles as well. Throw in a win for Grace Barrera and Tamara Bates in the U19 pairs, multiple silvers for Adelaide University, and an unexpected bronze in the women’s youth eights for South Australia, and things are on the rise for the Croweaters.
History for Victoria and New South Wales…
… And very nearly for Queensland, too. Victoria came away with their first John Coates Cup since 2016 after their King’s Cup win, while New South Wales had plenty to cheer about after their Queen’s Cup crew blasted out to an early lead to take only their second win since 2004.
They don’t compare to Queensland’s drought in the King’s Cup, though. The Maroons haven’t finished in the top two since their last win back in 1939, and it’s doubtful they’ve come as close as they did here. A fast-finishing Queensland crew finished third, just 0.57s behind second-placed New South Wales. Another 100m, of course, and that drought may well be over.
History for the ACT
With just one bronze in the interstate regatta, it’s easy to assume the regatta went poorly for the Australian Capital Territory. Competitive showings in the interstate crew boats and women’s single suggest otherwise, with Catherine Khan and Hamish Harding both winning bronze in their open singles events, with Khan also winning gold in the open women’s double. Isobel Egan won the PR3 single and mixed double, while the Sunday highlight were two very different drought-breakers in the school quads.
Canberra Girls Grammar School has knocked on the door of a senior schoolgirl title for a number of years now, coming closest in 2024 when the only two losses of the year were in the semi-final and final. This year, they went through undefeated, finally breaking their drought with a strong win over Northern Beaches Secondary School. Straight afterwards, Marist College Canberra backed up their record time in the heat with another strong win in the final. It was only their second-ever national title after Harrison Braithwaite won the U17 singles in 2024 and an outstanding achievement for a school program run solely by volunteers.
Eights racing at its best
It’s fair to say not many people saw the school eights results coming. The previously undefeated St Catherine’s (Melbourne) had a shock loss in their heat to Melbourne Girls Grammar School before dominating Kinross Wolaroi and St Catherine’s (Sydney) in the semi-final.
In the final? Pymble Ladies’ College blasted out early before the two St Catherine’s crews rowed through them by the 1000m. Melbourne Girls Grammar then moved ahead of St Catherine’s (Melbourne) yet again, while St Catherine’s (Sydney) stayed out in front for their second consecutive Sydney Cup. Melbourne Girls Grammar finished second, St Catherine’s (Melbourne) third, Pymble Ladies’ fourth, and a tired-looking Kinross Wolaroi back in fifth.
Things were a little more standard in the schoolboy eights. St Ignatius capped their unbeaten season with an all-the-way win in the final, nearly five seconds ahead of Shore and The Southport School. With that level of dominance in the bag, it wouldn’t surprise to see St Ignatius making an appearance at Henley Royal Regatta later this year.
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