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The Henley Royal Regatta 2023

Sydney Rowing Club Henley Fundraiser

Please support our athletes by attending the Henley Fundraiser on Saturday 3 June 2023.

Find out more…..

Reindeer Regatta 2021

Reindeer regatta marked the start of the competitive season for Sydney Rowing
Club and a return to normality following the challenges faced in recent months. The
club had a comprehensive entry in the Reindeer Regatta and boasted impressive
results across all programs.
Some of the highlights of the weekend included Alex Nichol’s commanding win in
the Open men’s single. Alex’s classy performance deprived spectators of any
dramatics as he cruised to a comfortable lead in the middle stages of the race,
paddling home to finish 12 seconds up on his closest rival.
Liesel Page & Talisa Knoke-Driver took victory in a similar fashion in the women’s
under 19 double. Fighting it out in the early stages of the race with Kinross
Wolaroi’s entry of Isabella Scammell & Freya Neville (both SRC members). Liesel and
Talisa showed consistent pace through the most challenging stages of the race and
finished 12 seconds clear of the Kinross/SRC double.
The men’s open eight showed promise in the first half of the race, powering out to
an early lead. However, the SUBC entry showed their form in the later stages of the
race and claimed victory by a margin of 2 seconds. The Kings eight showed they’re
on track to repeat their success from last season’s Head of the River with a sprint
home to claim third place.
The Women’s open eight did what the men couldn’t and cruised home to an easy
win. Pulling 35 seconds clear of their nearest rival over the course of the race.
The weekend’s racing provided the whole club with a sense of excitement for the
coming season. We now regroup in preparation for the final NSWIS time trial of the
season and our long awaited December camp in Jindabyne.
Summary of results
Para M1x – Erik Horrie – 1st
Under16 M1x – Callum Dunn – 1st
Under16 M1x – Conor Greenwood – 1st
Under16 W2x – Sofia Zamprogno / Neve Tierney – 1st
Under19 W2x – Liesel Page / Talisa Knoke-Driver – 1st
Under19 W2x – Ela Huber / Zara Greenwood – 7th
Under19 M1x – Finn Woodward – 2nd
Under16 W1x – Sofia Zamprogno – 1st
Under16 W1x – Grace Bennett – 1st
Under16 W1x – Neve Tierney – 1st
Under17 M2x – Callum Dunn / Conor Greenwood – 3rd
Under19 W1x – Ela Huber – 2nd
Under19 W1x – Zara Greenwood – 4th
Under19 W1x – Talisa knoke-Driver – 1st
Under19 W1x – Laura Sypher – 2nd
Under21 W1x – Caitlin McManus Barrett – 2nd
Under21 W1x – Evie Thomson – 5th
Under21 W1x – Niamh Graham – 3rd
Under17 W1x – Alice Bennett – 4th
Under17 W1x – Liesel Page – 1st
Under16 M2x – Callum Dunn / Conor Greenwood – 1st
Under17 M1x – Finn Woodward – 1st
Open M8+ Hoffmann / Pearce / Delaney / Downey / Nicholls / Furrer / Glendinning / Crowe
/ Harris – 2nd
Open W8+ Sypher / Dunlop / Page / Graham / Knoke-Driver / Gavan / McManus-Barrett /
Thomson / Cowap – 1st
U23 M2- – Declan Glendinning / Henry Furrer – 1st
Open M1x – Alex Nichol – 1st
Open M4- – Pearce / Nicholls / Hoffmann / Crowe – !st
Open M4- – Appelcryn / Delaney / Glendinning / Furrer – 2nd
Open M2x – Torun Olsson / Harry Crouch – 1st
Open M2x – Nour Youndis / Tom Boidin – 4th
Lwt W1x – Grace Sypher – 1st
Lwt W1x – Nadine Johnston Araujo – 4th
U23 W1x – Lauren Graham – 2nd
U23 W2- – Evie Thomson / Caitlin McManus Barrett – 1st
Master M8+ – Composite incl. Ken Ambler – 1st
Open M4x – Crowe / Nichol / Olsson / Crouch – 1st
U23 W2x – Lauren Graham / Grace Sypher – 1st
Mixed 4x – Thomson / Dunlop / Furrer / Hoffmann – 1st

SRC Braves Barrington Weather, Ready for Finals!

Amongst the jaw dropping Tasmanian scenery of Lake Barrington, SRC athletes have raced hard and laid down some fantastic results over the first three days of racing at the 2021 Australian Rowing Championships.

The first three days comprise solely of Heats, Repechages, and Semi-Finals. The vast majority of our athletes faced minimal issues in avoiding the repechage, or long way round, in order to secure their finals berth.

Our U17 and U19 athletes have seen the most action out of the squad in the early stages of the regatta, with their efforts in the preliminary rounds culminating in eight A final berths for Thursday morning. A special mention must go to our U19 W2x’s and U17 M2x’s, where SRC has qualified two crews in both A finals.

Our U21 athletes have also progressed through to various A Finals, with U21 W2- Evie Thomson and Caitlin McManus-Barrett leading their heat start to finish to qualify directly. They will be joined by Niamh Graham and her North Esk crewmate Greta Brown on Thursday morning. On the men’s side, Henry Furrer and Brad Graham lead their head from start to finish to qualify fastest for their double scull’s final on Friday.

Our U23 athletes will also be contesting finals racing come Thursday morning. Both Women’s pairs raced the rep on Tuesday, with the combo of Lauren Graham and Issy Furrer qualifying for the A final, while India Thomson and Georgia Bradley will contest the B final. Our Men’s pair of Alex Nichol and Alex Potter avoided the rep, placing first in their heat to secure their A Final position.

On the two oared side of things, Torun Olsson and Harry Crouch will both race the B final of the U23 M1x on Thursday, while they look forward to racing the A Final of the U23 M2x on Friday, in the heat of which they laid down an absolutely blistering time of 6:25.32 over 20 seconds faster than their nearest competition. Grace Sypher went through the rep to secure her A Final berth in the lighty single, before placing second in the race for lanes in the lighty double together with WARC’s Georgia Seed.

Our Senior athletes also had a couple of strong hit outs, with the all SRC combo of Josh Hicks and Sam Hardy qualifying fastest for the Men’s pair final, where they will be joined by Jackson Kench with his SUBC partner Will O’Shannessy. Harriet Hudson also flew the sky blue at the front of the field, with a start to finish win in her semi of the Women’s Single, landing her in pole position for tomorrow’s race for medals.

We can only hope the weather holds off for tomorrow’s racing, check out the draw and live stream link below!

https://ra.rowingmanager.com/regattas/5110

SRC State Team Selections

With the announcement of the NSW King’s and Queen’s cup crews, SRC can now proudly confirm we have had 20 athletes and 3 coaches selected to represent our state at the 2021 Interstate Regatta to be held at Lake Barrington, on Sunday 28th March.
Please find full crew lists below:

King’s Cup – M8+
Sam Hardy
Spencer Turrin
Kendall Brodie (coxswain)
Jackson Kench (reserve)
Alex Nichol (reserve)
Jason Baker (assistant coach)

Queen’s Cup – W8+
Lauren Graham
Harriet Hudson
Leah Saunders
Issy Furrer (Reserve)

Interstate Men’s PR3 Single Scull
Ben Gibson
Donovan Cech (coach)

Noel F Wilkinson Cup – YM8+
Henry Furrer
Max Pearce (reserve)
Harry Keenan* (coxswain)

Bicentennial Cup – YW8+
Lily Eales
Lily Gavan
Niamh Graham
Caitlin McManus-Barrett
Evie Thomson
Grace Sypher
Hannah Cowap (coxswain)
Lachlan Carter (Lead Coach)

* Due to unforeseen circumstances, Harry is unable to compete at this year’s regatta.

Congratulations and best of luck must also go to our members selected to compete for QLD and WA
QLD – King’s Cup
Isaac Schmidt (coxswain)
WA – King’s Cup
Josh Hicks
David Watts

We look forward to a great afternoon of racing to conclude a much anticipated National Championship Regatta!

Farewell to Men’s Development Coach Franz Imfeld

After a highly successful two seasons at Sydney Rowing Club, Men’s Development coach Franz Imfeld has resigned in order to return to the UK, taking up the role of head coach at Molesey Boat Club. While disappointing for SRC, Franz must be congratulated on this fantastic opportunity and thanked for the positive influence he has had on SRC during his tenure. 2019 Henley Royal Regatta Champion Oscar Carr-Middleton has reflected on the influence Franz has had.

“The first time I met Franz was in the front room of the boatshed. I remember thinking how young he looked and that he certainly couldn’t be a coach at his age. However, over the past two years, along with the entire Men’s squad, I have learnt that this is a deserving indication of his ability as a coach. To have achieved as much as he has so early in his career is incredibly impressive. I believe that Franz’s crowning achievement has been the profound impact he has had on the development of his athletes on and off the water. In his tenure he has nurtured a group of athletes from schoolboys to athletes worthy of U23 podiums and beyond.

The difference in my mind between a good coach and a great one comes down to athlete management, being able to work out how to motivate an athlete, when to use the carrot and when to use the stick. It is a fine line; one that Franz knows how to tread. Working out how to get the best out of someone requires taking a genuine interest in getting to know them as a person, learning what makes them tick, when to pump their tires and when to give them a reality check. It takes time to build the rapport and trust that comes with a personal connection. It can’t be faked and there are no short cuts on the journey. Franz cares, that is clear in everything he does; all you need to see is how he acts at a regatta to be convinced of this. It is the personal attention and willingness to go above and beyond that led to the Wyfold Four last year endearingly calling him “Dad”, much to his dismay!… These skills are also in addition to an incredibly perceptive eye for technical detail. His ability to identify exactly where in one’s stroke changes and improvements can be made has led to substantial individual and squad wide gains.

On a personal note Franz totally retaught me how to row after reconstructive surgery on both hips. In less than a year he took me from an out of shape schoolboy who could barely get past half slide to a Henley winner. For this alone I will be forever grateful. I know that we’ve all had a coach firmly in our corner for the past two years and look forward to seeing Molesey go from strength to strength under his stewardship. As a native Brit I know that wherever Franz is I will always have a boat and club to row out of! We can only hope that he returns to these shores once more in the hopefully not too distant future!” – Oscar Carr-Middleton

Full Hero Board 2020

Are YOU a full Hero?!
The Full Hero Board has been running at SRC for the past four years, showcasing our athletes best performances in the gym! Now, in 2020, we’re taking our Full Hero Board digital, and public!

If you’re looking to improve your strength and fitness this winter while you wait for school rowing to pick back up, send us through your scores for your chance to be featured!

Full Hero Board: https://bit.ly/FullHero2020
Submission: https://bit.ly/fullherosubmission

2020 Sydney Rowing Club Open Day – POSTPONED

UPDATE:
Due to the rapidly evolving global situation surrounding COVID-19, and the restrictions that this has placed upon club operations, it is with regret that we have postponed our 2020 Open Day.
We encourage you to still register your details via the below form, and we will be communicating an alternative date in the future!

Our 2020 open day will involve getting everyone out for a row in mixed crews, followed by breakfast and a talk from some of our athletes and coaches, outlining what SRC can offer you for the 2020/2021 season and beyond!

Please use the contact form below to register your interest, we will be releasing more details closer to the date.

2020 NSW State Championships Wrap Up

With over 200mm of rain falling in Penrith over the weekend, Team SRC was faced with trying conditions for the 2020 NSW State Rowing Championships. Unfortunately, we saw the regatta cancelled on Sunday morning. As such, we finished up the regatta with 3.75 Gold, 3.5 Silver, and 4.25 Bronze medals, with the majority of our crews still to race. All athletes raced with serious grit and tenacity in the wet conditions, and must be applauded on their resilience. A big thank you to the coaches and their help with organising the most comfortable regatta possible, as well as Rowing NSW for putting together some fantastic racing.

Friday begun with the mildest weather of the weekend, some light drizzle for the small boat heats. Almost all SRC athletes cruised through their heats to qualify for A-Finals, with a special mention to Grace Sypher, India Thomson, and David Watts for taking first place in their respective heats.

With a relatively dry start, the tension in the air on Saturday Morning was palpable, as our Scullers, Elites, Paras, and Lightweights prepared for their small boat finals. The dry start was not to continue, however, with heavy rain once again setting in early in the days racing program. David Watts opened proceedings for SRC, taking a Silver Medal in the last few strokes of the CME 1x. Shortly after, club newcomer Grace Sypher took a silver in the CWU19 1x. A few races later, determined not to be outdone, India Thomson brought home the State Title in the CWU21 1x, with a special mention to Sophia Carmody, who led the race throughout the first 1500m. Our next Gold for the day came from Ben Gibson in the Para Men’s Single Scull, facing off against his pair partner, James Talbot (SUBC), as well as interstate rival Mac Russell (UQBC), Ben held a commanding lead from start to finish to retain the state title he won in 2019. In the CME 2-, 2019 World Championship Bronze Medalists Sam Hardy and Josh Hicks had a strong race to take home a Bronze medal. Other notable achievements from Saturday morning include Jackson Kench claiming bronze in the CMU23 1x, and our lightweights Alex Pikelis and Chris McCarthy crossing the line in second place in the CMEL 2-.

Saturday afternoon brought with it two of the most hotly anticipated races of the regatta, the Men’s and Women’s Under 21 Eights. The Men’s race required a heat, and after reigning in the fast starting Scotch College crew, our boys had secured the fastest qualifying time and a spot in the centre of the course in their final. The final proved to be incredibly tight, with the SRC crew having to work their way back through the field after a measured start, to take home the Bronze medal.

Our Women’s Eight was a different story all together. With several returning members from last years 3rd place crew, the girls were determined to maintain the lead which they had held in the first half of the 2019 race. And that they did. The girls crossed the 500m mark with a 3.5 second lead, and extended it throughout the race to bring home the Gold in a final time of 6:26.32, seven seconds ahead of second place!

Unfortunately, with the weather worsening, Sunday’s Racing was cancelled early in the day, however our U23 pairs must be commended on their fantastic Heats and Semi-Finals Racing.
On the Men’s side, Alex Potter and Alex Nichol qualified in second place for the A Final, whilst Torun Olsson and Matthew Murray (SUBC) took fourth place in the same semi-final.
On the Women’s side, Lauren Graham and Issy Furrer took our their heat comfortably to qualify for their final, all promising results as we look towards nationals in six weeks time!

Feature: Henley Royal Regatta 2019 by Franz Imfeld & Brendan Longman

Men’ Crews

Sydney won Henley on December 15th, 2018. It all began with a decision being made in the snooker room of the Kahane Lodge in Perisher and what followed was a wonderful season of training, racing and winning; culminating in four Henley medals, for four athletes, made possible by the efforts of an entire club.

The decision to win Henley was an easy one, it was the one dream of a rower that unites every age and ability. Unlike most races or selections, the only requirement is to train hard and be a member of a club. The next steps were even easier: follow the programme, trust the process and knuckle down. If you do that, the results are bound to follow, and that they did. With an outstanding set of small boats results in January, and the best state champs in recent history, the stage was set for an excellent international campaign.

Henley was at the forefront of athlete’s minds through the domestic season and post nationals there was a palpable excitement. The squad was decided, perhaps by slightly default, but also by the choice of those that wanted to win at the top amateur event in the world and after a short reset over underage trials, the final performance started. We decided on two fours instead of an eight, to keep competition alive, and this lead to a fantastic training environment, alongside our national reps.

As the weather turned colder and the water got slower, it was this squad solidarity that kept everyone going; the belief that we were bigger than the sum of our parts. The closer we came to departure date, and the bigger the training peaks became, this squad mindset became evermore crucial. Have each other’s back, no matter what the stop watch or thermometer says and the result will happen.

In the last fortnight before finals day, we prepared to fly. Fresh kit was collected, bags were packed, sleep schedules and jet lag mitigation was planned and off we went. Happily, we travelled with the knowledge that neither crew had to do qualifiers, meaning we could hit the last week of training in Henley hard, as was required.

The squad met at Heathrow well rested and after some short side trips for our Englishmen, regrouped at the boat tents in Henley. For debutantes Torun Olsson and Nick Dunlop, this was their first time at the course, and from the whole team there was a palpable sense anticipation. We did not row on arrival, both to keep this anticipation building, as well as it taking several hours to rig the boats as specifically as was required!

The first row on the Henley stretch is always thrilling and the boys came off the water on Wednesday grinning: times were fast, paddling speeds were great and the boats were familiar.

Then the jet lag hit and times plummeted. But, forewarned is forearmed. The crews knew this was coming and rolled with it; it was all part of the process. As we trained, we had to keep tweaking the rigs to get them spot on and as the jet lag abated towards the weekend, we got back on track.

Saturday morning and we woke early for a pleasant row in the English countryside to Reading for the quaint river regatta: Reading Town. A 12km row through rolling pastures and three locks lands us at the 800m sprint regatta. The 4- took the win, in a fairly weak field, but the 4+ just missed out on the W to a skilled crew from York. We packed up the boats and headed back to Henley for the draw and a much-needed afternoon off. On the journey back, we found out that both crews had been ‘selected’, meaning they had been recognised by the Henley Stewards as top crews in our respective events, always a good confidence boost.

With the 4+ not racing until Thursday, they took an extra day of training on Sunday and made some key changes to get them back to where they were, back in Sydney. The 4- joined them that evening for the last squad paddle before race week.

Monday morning was met with two surprises for the group, a new set of shoes, courtesy of Project B Rowing, for the 4- and SRC branding for the boats. Creating the right racing environment, is as vital as the training mindset in the run up. These were now our boats and blades, and boy they looked good.

Before we knew it, Wednesday was upon us. First race for the 4- and the first test for the squad: have we travelled well? Have we trained well? Have we followed the process? And the answer was resoundingly yes. The 4- took the fastest barrier and Fawley times in the Wyfold, and the confidence started building. Thursday, it stepped up again, with another win for the 4- before the 4+ even had their first, but the 4+ fed off the 4- success and had a fantastic first race. Torun and Nick had won their first race at Henley.

Now that the cats were out of the bag, the analysis began. What was the fastest time to the barrier, who had a close race, who had an easy race, who was the biggest contender, but for our crews, there was no doubt that we were right up there. The support from down under became noisier every day and confidence within the crews grew and grew.

Then before we knew it, it was the weekend. Two crews in the semi-finals, no mean feat for such young crews (both with an average age of 19), and now the tests began.

The 4- came up against the strongest UK competition in Lea RC, a crew that has been developing over the preceding years and the 4+ against what proved to be the strongest crew in the competition.

After a fairly nervous looking row, the 4- came out on top, with a little tussle with Boris and his white flag. Sadly, it was the end of the road, after an excellent campaign, for the 4+. Molesey’s top club crew led them to the line and after attack upon valiant attack from our boys, the sheer power of the winners couldn’t be beaten. Happily, they went on to resoundingly beat Mercantile in the final.

The 4- recovered well post-race and prepared for their final. After a gruelling analysis session of the semi-final and some fairly blunt words from coach, they realised how difficult they’d made it for themselves and knew what they needed to put right for the final.

And put it right they did. After the standard excited morning pre-row, and the nervous bite for breakfast, they walked into the boat tents, heads high and raring to go. They believed they could do it, knew what it would take and trusted that they could do it. They had the race of their lives. The perfect start, smooth, but competitive steering and crushingly long and aggressive race pace. They delivered a race within 3s of every record, without a tailwind, and took the win in style. A very sweet victory for Alex Nichol over NSR Oslo, who had been his undoing in 2017.

The release of emotion across the line and on the landing stage showed what this meant, the choices they’d made all season, the training they’d done, the social events missed, and the trust they’d built for each other, had all paid off: Sydney had won. Sometimes, all you’ve got to do, is decided to do it, and then the process becomes clear!

Until next year, Henley!

Wyfold 4- 2019: Bow: Oscar Olsen (King’s College, Wimbledon, UK), 2: Oscar Carr-Middleton (Eton College, UK), 3: Alex Nichol (Newington), Stroke: Alex Potter (Newington)

Britannia 4+ 2019: Cox: Nick Dunlop (Shore), Bow: Dylan Boakes (Shore), 2: Torun Olsson, 3: Max Brenner (Concord High), Stroke: Tom Galloway (Shore)

Thank you to Sydney Rowing Club, for supporting the campaign and making it all possible; Jim Stride, for managing the team; Project B, for helping with shoes; Imperial College and Hudson, for providing boats; Concept 2, for supplying oars and Shore School, for allowing us the use of their coxed four for training.

– Franz Imfeld, Men’s Development / Wyfold Coach

Women’s Crew

In what is the youngest Sydney Rowing club crew sent internationally to compete, our u17 women competed in the J16 Quadruple sculls at the Henley Women’s regatta, held in late June. In the qualifying round, the crew placed 5 th (out of 18 entries) to secure a place in the quarter finals – an impressive result considering an acute (and very painful) injury on board. In the quarter final, the crew faced eventual finalist Headington school, who unfortunately proved too strong.

Next up was the qualifying round for the Diamond Jubilee (J18 quadruple scull) at Henley Royal regatta – an ambitious task for a J16 crew. The event had its greatest number of entries, which reflected in the qualifying task of achieving a top 8 placing out of 50 somewhat entries. The crew finished 10 th , only a few seconds from a qualifying placing.

Their final outing as a crew, was the Reading Town regatta, where they won the J16 quadruple sculls.

Overall, experience was gained, valuable lessons learned, and hopefully resolves strengthened; Junior development at its finest.

Thanks to all involved.

– Brendan Longman, Junior Development Coach