Article courtesy of Andrew Potter.
The history and rivalry between two of Australia’s oldest and greatest universities will be on show again this weekend with fiercely contested races between two rival crews dating back more than 150 years.
In what is now a major event on the Australian sporting calendar the men’s and women’s eights from the University of Melbourne will take on the University of Sydney for the prestigious Australian Boat Race, being held this year on the spectacular course of Sydney Harbour.
The races on Sunday morning will begin at Woolwich and end in Darling Harbour. An exclusion zone around the 4.3 kilometre course will be in place to ensure the safety of the crews which include eight London Olympians.
The venue for this annual race alternates between the Yarra River in the heart of Melbourne and on the Sydney Harbour. It encapsulates the long-standing rivalry between two great cities and two great universities. Their rowing clubs first competed against each other in 1860. In recent years the University of Sydney men’s eight has won the race twice with the honours going to the women’s crews from Melbourne.
The races on Sunday 4 November will begin with the women’s eight race at 8.20am followed by with the men’s event at 9.20am.
MEDIA CONFERENCE and PHOTO OPPORTUNITY:
11am Friday 2nd November at the University of Sydney in the Main Quadrangle.
Crews announced and official weigh-in of all rowers.
Further information: www.australianboatrace.com
Twitter: #ausboatrace
Enquiries: Andrew Potter, University of Sydney 0414 998 521
