Over 80 single scullers took to the 5km course at the Head of the Nepean on Saturday. Raced over the traditional time-trial layout from the narrows to the end of the old championship course, it was the first of a number of longer distance events on the Rowing NSW program for the season.

A small contingent of 11 Balmain members made the trip down to picturesque Lake Barrington in Tasmania for the Australian Masters Rowing Championships. Expecting cold weather, it did not quite meet expectations for which all were glad and racing was conducted in quite good conditions for the first two and a half days while a solid headwind greeted competitors for the remainder of the regatta.

Steve Knott & Keith Swanson

Balmain Rowing Club had double reason to celebrate at the Rowing NSW Presentation Night on Wednesday at Sydney Rowing Club.

Life Member and club stalwart, Keith Swanson, was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award for his services to the sport as a coach and the myriad of the other work around the boatshed that he has undertaken over the past 42 years.

Leichhardt Rowing Club’s second regatta for the season proved to be a happy hunting ground for Jeff Paterson’s women’s squad as part of their final preparations for the Edward Trickett NSW Grade Championships at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in less than a fortnight.

The squad claimed wins in the D Grade Eight as well as divisions of the D Grade Quad Scull and D Grade Double Scull.

The eight crew of Hamina Cameron, Robyn Schremmer, Katrina Macgregor, Simone Broadfield, Geertje Ijpma, Michelle Smigielsk, Margaret Waldersee, Lucy Blakemore and coxswain Anna Bauweraerts took on Leichhardt in a match race and after trailing early finished strongly to claim the win by 1.1 seconds.

A small trailer of just 4 boats ventured to the Sydney International Regatta Centre last weekend for the Sydney Rowing Club regatta.

The regatta, widely regarded as an iconic event on the Rowing NSW calendar, did not disappoint. It provided the opportunity for spectators and competitors alike to see the NSW Queen’s Cup (Women’s) Eight take to the water ahead of the National Championships at West Lakes, Adelaide, in the second week in March. Also competing were many of the top athletes within the state using the regatta as their final racing preparations before heading to South Australia.