In one of our most successful campaigns ever our Sydney Uni Boat Club (SUBC) crews achieved outstanding results at the recently concluded 2015 Australian University Rowing Championships, held on the West Lakes course in Adelaide, September 30-October 2, 2015.
Our Men’s Eight rowers excelled in retaining the prestigious Oxford Cambridge Cup with an eleven second victory ahead of Adelaide and Monash Universities. Australian universities have competed for this trophy since 1893 when it was first donated by Oxford University Boat Club. This latest victory makes it three wins in a row for SUBC and seven wins in the last twelve years in this event. The 2015 running was the 118th edition of this classic race.
Our Men’s Eight crew was: Cox, Will Raven, Stroke, Andrew Judge, Jake Bicknell, Campbell Watts, Alex Purnell, Tom Whitehead, Tobi Wehr-Candler, Angus Robinson and Jack Cook. Coaches: Tom Sacre and Mark Prater.
Our Mixed Eights and Fours saw SUBC win both events and our crews have continued to dominate these two races since their inception. Our men’s team won the overall point score from the fifteen universities competing and retained the prized Bill Webb Trophy, while our women’s team finished second overall behind arch rivals the University of Melbourne. In an extremely tight climax to the regatta, Melbourne University pipped us as overall champions by a mere 12 points.
Point scores for the top universities in Adelaide were:
Men’s
- University of Sydney – 238
- University of Adelaide – 181
- University of Melbourne- 157.5
Women’s
- University of Melbourne -288.5
- University of Sydney -196
- Australian National University -150
Overall Champions
- University of Melbourne- 446
- University of Sydney – 434
- University of Adelaide- 320
Our congratulations go to all our SUBC rowers, coaches and support staff on a tremendous effort in Adelaide. Next year rowing will be held as part of the Australian University Games in Perth with the regatta set for Champion Lakes.
All eyes now turn to the Australian Boat Race which is a stand-alone annual showcase event between Sydney and Melbourne Universities. This year’s races will take place on the Yarra River, Melbourne on Sunday October 25, 2015. These are one-on-one grudge-match races between the rival Men’s and Women’s Eights. These races are big in every way from bragging rights, spectator numbers, media coverage and the overall historical tally for men’s and women’s events.
Also on the day our University College, St Andrew’s, which has an esteemed history of rowing dedication and success, will have its Men’s and Women’s Eights square off against those from the biggest college, Ormond, at the University of Melbourne. More on this unique Australian Boat Race event shortly.
