Across Australia, developing athletes test themselves in U21 events, aiming to gain the experience they need to race at a high-performance level in the future. The first such event in 2026 is the Rowing Queensland State Championships. In particular, the U21 men’s eight promises to be an exciting event, with eight high school-aged crews looking to learn before the GPS Head of the River (HOTR) and Australian National Championships in March. With very little racing in the current configurations, we may well see surprise performances at this event.
Brisbane Grammar School
With four boats entered, Brisbane Grammar School is bringing significant depth. Having finished second at the 2025 HOTR, returning members Kent and Kelso are joined by Woolley, Purcell, Hutton, Kerr, Kerr, Poynter, and coxswain O’Keefe. With Kent and Woolley also competing at the 2025 Australian National Championships, this crew has significant experience and proven strength that they will be showcasing on Saturday. I expect this crew to settle into a strong rhythm early, aiming to win through attrition.
Brisbane Boys College
Brisbane Boys have also brought a deep contingent to this year’s event, with two boats entered. Having finished sixth at the 2025 GPS Head of the River, Brisbane Boys has entered two boats in this event. Only Wright and coxswain O’Rorke have returned for the 2026 racing season, and they are joined by Gooding, Pidik, Hempel, Uriol-Reategui, McFarlane, Ayres, and Morrow. Given last season’s racing result, the experienced members of this boat are likely to surge early in an attempt at controlling the race.
St Joseph’s Nudgee College
The final all-school competitor is Nudgee, which finished seventh in last year’s HOTR and ninth at the Australian National Championships. Returning for their second year are Whitnall, Prosser, Brown, and Dawson, who will want to lead this crew to a stronger result in 2026. They are joined by McKeown, White, Kovac, Whitnall, and McHugh, who are all new to the Nudgee first eight. This is another crew I expect will try to control the race early, with the members wanting to improve on last year’s showing.
Finally, the dark horse of this event will be the Rockhampton Fitzroy Composite. This is a crew comprised of athletes from the James Cook University Junior program (Hibble), Rockhampton Grammar School (Hendrie), Rockhampton Fitzroy (Vesey, Parr, Thompson, Brandt, Struthers), and Townsville Grammar School (Mackay). With little published racing history for all these athletes, this crew has likely rowed together recently and could put a strong showing on for the spectators.
Prediction
Given how little racing information we have on the crews entered, this race is challenging to call. As mentioned, I expect the Brisbane Boys and Nudgee crews to attempt to control the race early, with Brisbane Grammar falling into a strong race pace. Through the middle 1000 metres, the rhythm of Brisbane Grammar should allow them to push back through the fast-starting crews. I thus expect Brisbane Grammar to cross the line first, with a close race behind them, leading to Brisbane Boys in second and Nudgee in third. However, this result could be turned on its head by anyone racing in this event, given the depth and likely skill brought by the other entrants.
