Image Credit: Rowing New South Wales
The Championship Men’s Eight is truly the jewel in the crown of West Australian Rowing. With a thriving club scene and regular competition throughout the season, this event is hotly contested year after year. However, the history books don’t paint such an enthralling picture, with Swan River Rowing Club having won the event for the past twenty-three years in a row. Such a record is unheard of in Australian rowing and is a simply unbelievable achievement.
Yet, for those of you dreading a Kiwi pair-esque domination, it’s not all doom and gloom. The results of this pennant season indicate a much closer battle and potentially a three-way race for the win. This inevitably leads to the question on everybody’s minds: will Swan River be singing their final swansong come race day, or will their winning streak live another year?
Swan River Rowing Club
The reigning champions in this event, Swan River Rowing Club will arrive at Champion Lakes with the pressure of 23 consecutive titles weighing heavy on their minds but will be determined to make it 24. The crew has maintained a consistent core throughout the season, with former Australian U23’s Patrick Boere, Rohan James, Sam Marsh, and Riley Rees-Turner spearheading the campaign. They will be missing the added horsepower of Myles McQuillan, who bolstered the crew in their most recent (and narrowest) victory two weeks ago. Despite this win, the results thus far have been mixed, trading blows with Fremantle Rowing Club and West Australian Rowing Club throughout the season to take a win at the Guildford to Garrett Head, as well as two of the Pennant Regattas. When it comes to it, the Mark Beer coached crew from Swan River would be favourites to many in this race, but it looks like they will see their greatest challenge yet.
West Australian Rowing Club
Perhaps the most consistent crew in this year’s competition, WARC have been silver medallists in the past five iterations of this event and have shown a similar run of form this year. Finishing second at the past three pennant regattas but vitally usurping Swan River at the penultimate event, they arrive with an unchanged boat from that which came within two seconds of Swannies at the last regatta. A mix of youth and experience bookend the crew; Alex Rossi of the Australian Men’s Quad sits in stroke, whilst up-and-coming junior Charlie Stevenson will be providing technical support from the bow. Having come so close for so many years and with a good showing this season, this crew will have every bit of confidence that they can etch their names into the history books.
Fremantle Rowing Club
Whilst Fremantle Rowing Club have been a common feature on the lower rungs of the podium in this event over the past decade, they’ve never quite had the depth to challenge the frontrunners for a win. This year, however, has been quite the different story. With the majority of this eight featuring in every regatta this season, Fremantle have been consistently in the fight for wins, even taking two victories during the head racing season and one over two kilometres. Whilst their third-place result at the most recent Pennant regatta might be cause for some concern, they arrive at the State Championships with an unchanged lineup, unlike Swan River. It is worth noting as well that this was by far the tightest podium of the season, with Swan River, WARC, and Fremantle separated by a mere boat length. For a club that has been building momentum nicely over the past few years, the idea of snatching a win will be one that feels very real, and with good reason.
University of Western Australia Boat Club
University of Western Australia Boat Club have had a difficult run this season, finishing a consistent fourth place in each of the pennant regattas, and significantly off the pace throughout the head racing season. Despite Ben Clayton’s recent form in the single scull, this crew have been unable to mix it with the top three in the eight this season. UWABC will be most concerned with racing the Swan River B crew, who got the better of them at the first Pennant regatta.
Predictions
With a mixed finishing order throughout the season, this weekend presents the best opportunity yet for a club to overturn the incredible run of success that Swan River have enjoyed. However, with a crosswind in the forecast, the form guide could go out the window.
West Australian Rowing Club have momentum behind them, closing the gap with each race, and are my favourites to take the win. Swan River Rowing Club will be hot on their heels, but their experience should be enough to hold off Fremantle.
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