Grammar rowers make history at nationals

BALLARAT Grammar is basking in the glow of a national rowing championship following success in at Lake Barrington in Tasmania.

Gold to the senior boys division 1 coxed four capped an outstanding overall performance by the school, with crews racing with determination, resilience and great team spirit.

The win earned the persistent and hard-working crew – Hugh Myers (stroke), George Magee (3 seat), Bella Jenkins (cox), Jack Howard (2 seat) and Rex Brennan (bow) – the tag as ‘Australia’s fastest’ at the level.

In an historic moment for the school, Ballarat Grammar had two crews in a senior A-final for the first time, with both the senior girls and senior boys achieving this milestone.

The school’s head of rowing Marty Francis said the performance of the senior crews set the tone for a remarkable championships across the board for Ballarat Grammar.

“The boys was a great result for us, but there were also some good results with our girls,” he said.

“Both crews we took down made A-finals, which is pleasing.

“But I’m really excited for that div one crew, who have been close and at times disappointed.

“They were disappointed at Head of the Lake. We’ve had a couple of close battles with [Ballarat Clarendon] College…so it was nice to get the win.

“For a bunch of boys who have come through the program from the start, it’s a nice reward for staying the distance and plugging away.

“A national championship …. what do you say? It’s a great way to finish up for the boys and girls.

“It was a good fell in the shed having everyone down there helping us.”

The senior boys division 2 coxed four also impressed, adding to the momentum by finishing fourth in the A-final.

Both senior girls crews qualified for the A-final, with the division 1 coxed four finishing sixth and the division 2 coxed four finishing seventh.

There were two more top-tier finishes for Ballarat Grammar.

The intermediate girls under-17 finished fourth in the B final, while the intermediate boys under-17 eight finished second in the B-final.

Francis hailed the division one boys’ success as a win for persistence.

“It’s been a slow burn,” he said. “I came into the program three years ago, and don’t have a lot of perspective in terms of what happened before then, but it’s been a combination of a lot of things.

“Some kids just maturing a little bit later than others, and obviously the more time they have spent together, the better it’s become from them.”

The senior boys ranks have certainly swelled in recent years, up from three two years ago to its current number of five.

“That makes a difference … when you are all pushing from below up for the next group.

“We’ve been working on retention within the program and have been lucky with the girls … it’s been strong.

“We had a glimpse of what the boys could do last year – a really good year 10 cohort coming through.

“Having success and a strong senior program across the board speaks volumes.”

A sixth for the girls capped a ‘consistent’ season for the crew.

“That was a pretty open race. We had a few changes in the boat following the Head of Schoolgirls (regatta) … we wanted to try something different and I think it reaped some awards,” Francis said.

“They’ve stayed the course of time and we’ve had a strong second crew.”