The women’s elite eight at the 2026 New South Wales rowing championships is the premier event for many of the athletes competing. The field for this year contains seven entries from across New South Wales and Victoria, with many crews containing multiple past Australian Representatives across all age levels. With such a strong field racing on the 2000 Olympic Course at Sydney International Regatta Centre, this year’s running of the Elite Women’s Eight promises to be a thriller.
Sydney Rowing Club
As winners of the women’s elite eight at this event in 2025, Sydney Rowing Club has fielded multiple strong eights for the 2026 iteration. In particular, the boat of Sypher, Vance, Anderton, McManus-Barrett, Carpenter, Sumpter, Scammell, McKay, and coxswain Cowap looks very strong. With Sypher, McManus-Barrett, Scammell, McKay, and Cowap having won medals at U23 World Rowing Championships in the last three years and this exact crew winning the Riverview Gold Cup women’s eight last week, I expect this crew to start fast and settle into a solid rhythm through the middle of the race, drawing on their considerable experience in an attempt to defend the title they currently hold.
University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)
In second place at the recent Riverview Gold Cup was the UTS crew. Past Australian representatives Fahd and Tisdall are joined by Swain, Draney, Hardy, Baker, Wolstencroft, Manins, and coxswain Castellas, each of whom has raced for UTS at either the 2025 Australian Rowing Championships or the recent NSW small boats regatta. In their most recent showing, this crew settled into their mid-race pace slightly earlier than the aforementioned Sydney Rowing Club crew, with excellent coxing and a strong pace through the middle of the race, maintaining their position over the line. I expect they will try to overturn the Gold Cup result by holding on to their pace off the line for slightly longer before settling into a mid-race pace.
Sydney University Boat Club
Another local crew for this regatta is Sydney University Boat Club. Training out of Lane Cove, this club has fielded a strong eight to compete for the women’s elite eight this year. Notably, Nattey, Botha, Wightman, and coxswain Jureta are all past Australian Representatives across U19 and U23 levels. They are joined by Preller, O’Brien, Fikkers, Ready, and Macready, who have all won medals at either the 2025 or 2024 Australian National Championships. As a slightly younger crew than both Sydney University and UTS, this boat will be looking to push the experienced units the entire way down the course.
Melbourne University Boat Club
As one of two interstate crews, the Melbourne University Boat Club crew will be looking to make a statement to New South Wales athletes ahead of the National Championships in March. On board are Australian Representatives Cantwell, de Uray and Dawson, with Henley Royal Regatta winner Nevins also rowing for Melbourne University Boat Club. They are joined by Harwood, Joyce, Hooper, Dumbrell, and coxswain Jones. With similar international experience to Sydney Rowing Club and UTS, I expect this crew will race hard near the front of the pack the whole way down the 2000-metre course.
Mercantile
The second interstate crew is the Mercantile Rowing Club, from Victoria. Fierce rivals of Melbourne University Boat Club, the Mercantile crew comprises Australian representative Lutze, who is joined by Ivers, Adem, Sadler, Gioulekas, Cartwright, Campbell, Gillon, and coxswain Carton. With many of the athletes in this boat likely attempting a run at Australian Teams this year, this crew will be looking to gain experience against the athletes they may face for National team selection. Expect this crew to start fast to establish themselves as early leaders, and to use that advantage to hang on the whole way down the course.
Prediction
The quality of athletes across all boats in this year’s field means that the crews will likely be tight the whole way down the course. Many crews have had strong showings at recent regattas, with different crews winning events across the head-racing season and 2000-metre racing over the last few months. Given the most recent results over two thousand metres, I expect that Sydney Rowing Club will defend their title, narrowly beating UTS and Melbourne University across the line, in that order. However, it is important to note that no 2000-metre eights races have taken place on the Sydney International Regatta Centre this season yet, and as such, the order of these crews could be vastly different on the day. Either way, this race will be one to watch on Sunday morning.
