Sydney University Boat Club’s men’s and women’s eights are in training for the famous Australian Boat Race against Melbourne University when the event returns to Sydney Harbour – from Woolwich to Darling Harbour – on Sunday, 27 October.
The men’s crew will be chasing a 12th win in the Edmund Barton Trophy, while the women’s eight will be after a sixth win in the Bella Guerin Trophy.
The Australian Boat Race boasts a longstanding tradition between Australia’s two oldest Australian universities. Held annually, the venue alternates between the Yarra River in the heart of Melbourne and Sydney Harbour. It encapsulates the 160-year-old-long rivalry between the two cities and two great universities and has become a showcase event since being resurrected in 2009.
Sydney University Boat Club was founded in 1860. They are presently the two most successful rowing clubs in Australia with many Olympians in their ranks.
The two rowing clubs met informally on the Yarra in 1860. By 1870 the rowing competition between Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide universities became a regular feature, eventually growing into the annual intervarsity competition.
Australia’s future Prime Minister Edmund Barton rowed in the Sydney boat at the first regatta in 1870. Barton was pivotal in drafting the Australian Constitution and was elected to the first Federal Parliament in December 1899.
The trophy for the women’s race, also designed and produced by Jennifer Mann, is named after the first woman graduate of the University of Melbourne, Bella Guerin, who earned her Arts degree in 1883 and Master’s in 1885 and took up teaching. She became active in women’s causes and was appointed vice-president of the Australian Labor Party’s Women’s Central Organising Committee in 1918.
Almost 150 years after the first regatta, the first Australian Boat Race was contested as a time trial as part of the 2009 Head of the Yarra. Following this, the Vice-Chancellors, Professor Glyn Davis (Melbourne) and Professor Michael Spence (Sydney) agreed to an annual “match race” between men’s eights and women’s eights from each university.
Secure your tickets here: https://sydunievents.swoogo.com/2024ABR.
