Photo Credit: Rowing NSW
Despite Australian men’s sculling going through a tumultuous period at the senior level, the competition at the schoolboy level is possibly at the highest standard we’ve ever seen. This event has given us some thrilling racing over the past few years, and given the likelihood of an afternoon tailwind at SIRC in February, I’d be looking to this event to give us some fast times and tight margins in 2025.
Southport
One of the more unknown entries in this regatta is The Southport School from Queensland. Clearly looking to get bang for buck out of their trip to Sydney, TSS are splitting their eight into a quad and four, with this combination looking likely to be their top four athletes. Southport are currently the leading crew in Queensland schoolboy competition, after taking the state title in both the schoolboy and U19 eight two weeks ago. This year, only Leonardo Hughes is back from the crew that narrowly missed out on the Barrington Cup in 2024. Stroking this quad, Hughes will be a valuable addition, bringing the experience of reaching the quarterfinals of The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at last year’s Henley Royal Regatta. That experience will be key here; the uncertainty and adaptability required on the Henley stretch will assist in getting this combination, which has likely not been extensively trained, up and moving in what is sure to be a very quick event.
Kinross Wolaroi
The reigning state and national champion in this event, Kinross Wolaroi, will be hard to beat in the schoolboy quad this weekend. Last year’s combination took the title in fine form, setting an Australian record in a time of 6:23.69. Whilst they led for the duration of the race, Marist College were not far behind, but by the time nationals rolled around, the boys in light blue were in a league of their own, winning that race by clear water. This year’s crew sees three returners from last year, with Toby Buckland the sole new addition. Orange residents fear not though, as this addition has not appeared to have slowed them down, with the new combo taking convincing wins at the first two regattas of the season late last year. The crew’s only obstacle is the workload for bow seat Harry Dymock, who is entered in six different events throughout the weekend. Backing up for the quad after what is set to be a hotly contested U19 singles race on Saturday morning is no mean feat, but the rest of the crew will find some solace in the fact that some of their closest rivals from Marist College and St Augustine’s are also set to line up in small boats on Saturday. Given the time this crew has spent racing together and dominating the schoolboy sculling scene, I’d be surprised if anyone comes close to overturning them at this key regatta.
St Augustine’s
Likely to be the sole Sydney-based program to contest the medals in this race, St Augustine’s arrive at the NSW State Championships with a young but experienced combination. Half of the crew’s makeup are U17-aged competitors, due to take on the eight earlier on Saturday morning. This shouldn’t count them out, though, as those two – Lachlan Schofield and Jesse Bray – were a part of the combination that, earlier in the season, ran second to Kinross Wolaroi. They were joined too in that instance by Rory Parker and are accompanied by Hamish Wise this weekend. Significantly to the outcome of this event, the latter two will jump into the quad with fresh legs as their first event of a very busy weekend of racing, an advantage that many of their competitors will not be able to lay claim to. Wise will also bring the experience of winning the 2024 Pathways Quad race for NSW, where his crew overcame 3/4 of the Kinross combination. Although the boys from Sydney’s Northern Beaches may not have the pedigree to fight for the win in this event, their unique combination of youth and experience could be enough to see them sneak in for a medal.
Marist College
The small but mighty programme from Australia’s capital, Marist College have been making waves in schoolboy sculling over recent years. Last year saw Harrison Braithwaite crowned the school’s first-ever national champion in the U17 single scull, following it up three days later with a bronze in the schoolboy quad, just edged out in a sprint finish by fellow Territorians Radford. This year’s entrants at the State Championships see three returners from last year’s challenger, with Garvan Hayes and Charles Carter joining Braithwaite, alongside Riley Dale, who has been promoted from the 2024 second quad. At the last running of this regatta, Marist were the only crew to come within striking distance of Kinross, posting a 6:25.22, within a length of the central-west boat. We’re yet to see what they can do over 2km this season. However, recent times on the 1800m course on Lake Burley Griffen suggest they could once again challenge Kinross in this race. It’s a big ask to overturn the reigning champions in this event, but Marist should be best placed to do so.
Prediction
The reigning state and national champions in this event have shown no signs of slowing down, and after a reportedly very intense holiday training program, it’s hard to see Kinross being beaten to the title this year. I don’t expect them to have it all their own way, though. Marist College are in a very similar position, and I don’t expect them to allow the margin to increase and will be pushing Kinross all the way to the line for silver. The bronze medal race will be tight between St Augustine’s and Southport, with possibly a late challenge from Redlands, who have shown a propensity for sprint finishes this season. If I had to pick, I’d go with the experience of St Augustine’s to secure the last medal, but expect challenges to come from all sides.
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