Rowing Australia website set to live stream final day of event, including King’s and Queen’s Cup Interstate Regatta LIVE.
The 2016 Sydney International Rowing Regatta features the Australian Open Rowing Championships, the Australian Open Schools Championships and the King’s and Queen’s Cups Interstate Regatta. The three events see athletes from across the country flock to the Sydney International Regatta Centre to be crowned the best in the country in their respective boat classes.
This year, Rowing Australia will be live-streaming the entire day of racing on Sunday 20 March, including the King’s and Queen’s Cups Interstate Regatta from 8am AEST on www.rowingaustralia.com.au. Further information to be released on Thursday 17 March.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events and Minister for Sport and Member for Penrith, Stuart Ayres, said the event provides a great boost for both Western Sydney and NSW.
“The Sydney International Rowing Regatta is a fantastic annual Western Sydney event, with competitors and spectators travelling from interstate and overseas to take part. I wish all competitors the best of luck, and encourage them to explore the great range of hotels, restaurants and attractions on offer in Western Sydney.”
This year’s event will once again see Australia’s top sculler, Kim Brennan (nee Crow) take the water to defend her Nell Slatter Trophy in the Interstate Women’s Single Scull.
In the Women’s Double Scull event, favourites will no doubt come in the form of Sally Kehoe and Genevieve Horton who are entered alongside the likes of Alexandra Hagan and Olympia Aldersey.
In the Women’s Single Scull Open event, the title could be anyone’s with Kehoe looking to be the favourite but facing stiff competition from the likes of Australian Rowing Team members Kerry Hore, Jennifer Cleary, Jessica Hall and Madeleine Edmunds who were recently selected as Australia’s Women’s Quadruple Scull for World Rowing Cups 2 and 3.
In the Men’s Pair it was Australian Rowing Team members Alex Lloyd and Spencer Turrin who snapped up the Open event last year. With a number of Men’s Sweep athletes set to compete in the event, including the current national champions, the event looks to be quite a thriller. Lloyd and Turrin will face competition from fellow Australian Rowing Team athletes Josh Booth and Josh Dunkley-Smith, as well as Will Lockwood and Alex Hill, add to the mix a number of the athletes recently selected for the Australian Men’s Eight squad and spectators are sure to see some fabulous on water action in Penrith.
Meanwhile, in the Open Men’s Coxless Four Lloyd and Turrin will team up with Dunkley-Smith and Booth and be hot favourites for the title but they will face stiff competition from Hill, Lockwood, Angus Moore and Josh Hicks.
In the U23 events of the week, the U23 Women’s Pair event will feature former Junior World Champion, Jessie Allen of Mosman RC, who has teamed up with a new pair partner in Kate Rowan from University of Queensland BC, who was in Australia’s Junior Women’s Four in 2014. They will surely make a push for this year’s title but not without pressure from the likes of the 2015 Australian Universiade reps Claudia Zucchelli and Hedda Cooper from Melbourne University BC.
The 2015 U23 Men’s Single champion, ACT’s Luke Letcher will be looking to defend his title and will no doubt face his stiffest competition from his 2015 U23 Australian Rowing Team Men’s Double Scull partner, New South Wales’ Tom Schramko.
A number of the U19 athletes have made the step-up including Junior World Rowing Championships bronze medallist, Adam Bakker, entered in the U21 Men’s Single Scull, while Callum Chisholm, Henry Kamp and Hamish McDonald who featured in the Junior Men’s Four in 2015 will compete in their respective crews in the U21 Men’s Pair event. In the female categories, other Junior Australian Rowing Team representatives moving up include Georgia Wheeler in the U21 Women’s Single, Jacqueline Hart, Kirsten Green and Chloe Betts in the U21 Women’s Pair and Bridget Badenoch in the U23 Women’s Single.
In the para-rowing events, spectators will have the luck of seeing three-time World Rowing Champions Erik Horrie (ASM1x), Kathryn Ross and Gavin Bellis (TAMix2x) in action, while the recently named Australian Legs Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four will also take the water in Penrith.
Looking to the school racing, there will no doubt be some highly competitive racing from all the schools involved in the Australian Open Schools Championships.
In 2015, the Schoolboys Eights was taken in barn-storming form by the Nudgee School from Queensland. The crew, coached by John Bowes, will return in a bid to defend its title, but strong contention will come from the likes of Scotch College, Melbourne, The Shore School in Sydney and St Joseph’s College, Sydney.
In the Schoolgirl’s race, defending champions Geelong Girls Grammar are not entered to compete in this year’s event so the title is up for the taking. With 20 crews set to compete possible favourites to take the title could well be Queenwood who recently won the NSW Schoolgirls Head of the River.
International crews set to compete at the event include Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Hong Kong who are predominately entered in lightweight events as they look to prepare for the Asian Olympic Qualifying Regatta in South Korea in April. There are also athletes set to be competing from Singapore and Russia, as members of Mosman RC from NSW.
Finally, the newest addition to this year’s event schedule is the sprints where spectators are sure to seem some fast and exciting action on the water from school level through to masters.
Entries for the events can be viewed by event here.