ACT ROWING ASSOCIATION

The ACT Rowing Association will this weekend mark the 40th anniversary of its founding in 1964 by holding the 40th annual ACT championships.

To further mark the occasion, two of the association's foundation clubs, ANU Boat Club and the Canberra Rowing Club, have arranged a men's eights race involving several rowers who have made significant contributions to both their clubs and the association.

Among them is Pat Davoren, a Canberra Rowing Club stalwart who as a graduate will row for the ANU eight. He will be joined former Australian representative Nick Hunter and prominent Canberra lobbyist Rohan Greenland.

The Canberra crew will contain club captain John Simson and ACTRA President Brendon Prout.

The special race will be held at 11.50 am on Saturday.

Davoren, who helped lay the foundations of the Canberra Rowing Club shed in Yarralumla Bay, says the first major event held on the newly-formed lake in 1964 was trials for that year's Tokyo Olympic Games.

"The first ACT championships were held in 1965, but given there were five foundation clubs ­ Canberra, ANU, Burns Rowing Club, Canberra Grammar and Telopea­ it wasn't big."

A further factor, Davoren says, was that the clubs all shared just four boats!

"They were housed in the former East Basin Pavilion, which is now the Boathouse Restaurant."

ANU and Canberra will also face off in the open men's eights for the prestigious Uriarra Cup

Canberra is so keen to win it is rumoured to be persuading at least two international oarsmen to back up after contesting last weekend's Australian Championships at Nagambie, Victoria.

Also in contention will be Radford College, coached by British international oarsman Mark Partridge, and two Canberra Grammar School crews.

The women's eights for the Canberra Day Cup will be a contest between ANU, Black Mountain, Canberra and a Canberra Girls' Grammar School crew coached by another association stalwart, Daffyd Gwyn-Jones.

Racing for Canberra in both the open and masters eights is Senator Kate Lundy.

In the men's single sculls, Australian championships finalist Ben Southwell is a raging favourite, while the women's event is likely to be a contest between Sydney 2000 Olympics quad sculls representative Kerry Knowler and her Canberra clubmates Yasmin Burraston and Diane Egerton-Warburton.

In both boys' and girls' categories the school eights will see close tussles between Canberra Grammar and Radford.

The girls' race is expected to be particularly close, with Radford, coached by former student Margot Harley, resurgent following their win in the recent Independent Schools regatta in Maitland two weeks ago.

The championships are being held on the Yarramundi Reach course on Lake Burley Griffin on both Saturday and Sunday.

Racing on Saturday is being held between 7.35 am and 2 pm, and on Sunday between 7.40 and 10.40 am.

Access to the finish and spectator area is at Acacia Inlet off Lady Denman Drive.

Times of key events are as follows:

Saturday
11.50 am: Commemorative Masters Eights, ANU v Canberra
1.45 pm: Men's Single Sculls
1.50 pm: Women's Single Sculls
1.55 pm: Schoolgirl Eights for the Nielsen-Kellerman Trophy
2.00 pm: Schoolboy Eights for the Fraser Cup

Sunday:
9.30 am: Open Women's Eights for the Canberra Day Cup
10.40 am: Open Men's Eights for the Uriarra Cup

Issued by Robin Poke, 0408 687 104
Media information/comment:
Nick Hunter, 0412 268 753, Pat Davoren, 0417 496 327