New format for rowing regatta

NEARLY 370 rowers will take to the waters of Lake Wendouree at the Ballarat Small Boats Regatta tomorrow.

The event, which is scheduled to start at 7am and finish at 6pm, is being run by Rowing Victoria and Rowing Ballarat, and will be contested by school and club competitors.

The regatta will trial a new format aimed at highlighting small boats, fours and quads over 1000-metre and 2000-metre distances in a total of 58 events. School coxed fours and coxed quadruple sculls will also be part of the program.

Rowing Victoria received a total of 285 entries for the event, representing 367 rowers and 614 seats.

If necessary to reduce the length of the day, non-selection events may be run as divisions rather than heats, preliminaries and finals.

Entries have come from boat clubs including Wendouree-Ballarat, Ballarat City, Hawthorn, Richmond, Corio Bay, Barwon, Essendon, Yarra Yarra, and Melbourne University.

School entries include teams from Ballarat High School, Ballarat Grammar, Loreto College, St Patrick’s College, and Ballarat Clarendon College.

Liz Ballan of Rowing Victoria said the long-running regatta had traditionally been open to all boat classes from singles to eights, but this time organisers had chosen to focus mainly on singles, pairs and doubles.

“There was a need to put on an event like this because they don’t get much of an opportunity to participate in those small boat events if they want to be in some larger boats as well,” she said.

“It’s purely a new format for the rowers.”

Ms Ballan said the event had previously been known as simply the Ballarat Regatta and the Ballarat 2km Regatta (in 2024), and events had been held solely over the 2000-metre distance.

She described the entry numbers as very good, with both males and females to occupy the seats in men’s, women’s and under 21 categories.

Ms Ballan said the event may stay as a small boat regatta or could revert to the usual configuration of all boat classes, according to how it goes.

“If they’re happy with it, they might keep it as small boats or they might put on another couple of small boat regattas throughout the season,” she said.