A Narrative History of Australian Rowing, 1770–2016

Abstract

This thesis describes in detail the beginnings, development and progress of rowing in
Australia through fifteen chapters that set out chronologically how the sport transitioned from
the days of settlement, the early watermen, and to the 19th century and the onset of
professional sculling. Then came, in the 20th century, the era of pure amateurism before, given
the massive funding in contemporary sport, it reverted at the very least to the semi-professional
level.
The initial chapters describe the early use of boats by settlers and the exploits of the earliest
professional scullers, who captured the imagination not just of the citizens of New South
Wales but of all the colonies. Then comes the rapid expansion of rowing and sculling at all
levels: club, colonial and national, and the onset of the amateur ideology. The transition from
inter-colonial to inter-state competition is described, as is the emergence of women’s rowing.
Then comes Australia’s growing involvement at the international level between the two world
wars. The retirement of professional sculler Bobby Pearce and the eventual decline of
professional sculling are discussed.
A continuing swing away from amateurism towards at least semi-professionalism is seen.
Also described is the improvement in the administration of national rowing, at the hands,
initially, of John Coates, assisted by John Boultbee. Australia’s first professional Director of
Coaching, Reinhold Batschi is introduced.
An extraordinary decade in the history of Australian rowing arrives, during which the sport
experiences hitherto unforeseen success and at the end of which hosts an Olympic Regatta. At
the heart of this success are the stunning results obtained by a crew that had become known as
the Oarsome Foursome.
The period between the celebrating of a successful ‘home’ Olympic Games in 2000 and the
London Olympic Games in 2012 is described. In the interim were the Athens 2004 and
Beijing 2008 Games. The thesis ends with a discussion about Rowing Australia’s high
performance plans for the future of rowing and contemplation about the process of writing a
narrative history of rowing

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Canberra
Supervisor	Greg Battye (Supervisor), Keith Lyons (Supervisor), Mitchell Whitelaw (Supervisor), Allan Edwards (Supervisor) & Anthony Beaton (Supervisor)