Pathways Regatta highlights the best of school rowing

Rowing Australia’s Deputy Performance Director, Jaime Fernandez OLY, says the experience gained by the nation’s best school rowers will be priceless after a highly successful Interstate School’s Pathways Regatta at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC).

Nineteen School Eights took to the water last Friday for a series of finals that provided intense competition and tight finishes, with the gap between first and second not more than five seconds across any of the races.

You could have thrown a blanket over the field in the Men’s B final, with two seconds covering the entire field as crews raced oar-to-oar up the Penrith course.

Victoria claimed the honours in the Women’s Eight final, with a four-second margin over NSW and WA. All crews were quick out of the blocks but Victoria held the lead from the start to finish before pulling away with a strong final push.  

The Men’s final was a closely raced event, with only two seconds separating first, second and third. It was a battle from the start but Queensland held strong to take the win. Western Australia and Tasmania finished second and third respectively in tight tussle. 

“It’s fabulous to have an opportunity for our young athletes to represent their states at a school level. This regatta provides the opportunity to build connections between the School Programs, the broader State-based Pathway Programs and Rowing Australia,” Fernandez said.

“To have every state and territory represented in the regatta is important as we look to the future and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Additionally, the sense of community we have seen over these three days has been fantastic.

“From the pride in racing for your state, to the connections made at the Interstate Pathways dinner on Thursday night, where we had the privilege of hearing Olympian and World Championship Bronze Medallist Tara Rigney speak, it has been an incredibly successful couple of days.” 

Final Results 

Women’s B Final: 

1st – NSW 

2nd – QLD 

3rd – SA 

4th – Mixed Reserves  

Men’s B Final: 

1st – SA 

2nd – NSW 

3rd – QLD  

Women’s A Final: 

Gold – VIC 

Silver – NSW 

Bronze – WA 

4th – ACT 

5th – TAS 

6th – QLD 

Men’s A Final: 

Gold – QLD 

Silver – WA 

Bronze – TAS 

4th – VIC 

5th – ACT 

6th – Mixed Reserves  

Women’s Quad Final: 

1st – Tasmania 

2nd – Mixed  

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