Rowing ACT is thrilled to announce the appointment of Tom Westgarth as Lead Coach for the ACT Performance Pathways Program. This appointment follows Dave Fraumano’s move to join the Rowing Australia coaching staff under the GEN32 program.
Tom brings a wealth of experience, having been named Rowing Australia’s Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2019, and having coached across all levels from TID to Olympic rowers. Returning to the ACT after 15 years away, Tom has deep ties to the rowing community in the region. A former school and club rower, he represented the ACT (Interstate Representative #112), debuting in the Youth Cup in 2001 and competing in Kings Cup crews in 2002 and 2003, and Australia at the Under 23 World Championships.
Tom’s coaching journey began as an assistant coach with the ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS) overseeing TID and youth development in the territory. He has held prominent coaching and leadership roles, including Assistant and Head Coach at the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) and senior coach for the Hancock Prospecting Women’s National Training Centre (WNTC). His impressive track record includes nurturing and developing talent, guiding numerous crews to interstate, national, and international success, most notably leading the women’s four to multiple gold medals between 2017 and 2020, culminating in Olympic Gold.
Rowing ACT is excited to welcome Tom back and looks forward to the expertise and passion he will bring to the ACT Performance Pathways Program.
Tom commented “I am thrilled to be returning to the ACT where I started my rowing journey. The future of our sport in Canberra is exciting with great new initiatives to introduce more young people to the water and strong school and club programs operating on all sides of the lake.
I look forward to reconnecting with the local rowing community and assisting all our athletes in a pursuit to be the best on the world stage.”
ACT Academy of Sport Director Gerard Corradini commented “The ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS) congratulates Rowing ACT and Rowing Australia on the appointment of Tom Westgarth as the new ACT Performance Pathway Lead Coach. Tom is an experienced high-performance coach with over 16 years’ elite rowing coaching, including Assistant Coach roles (ACTAS and the Queensland Academy of Sport), AIS Scholarship Coach, Head Coach at QAS, and most recently as a Senior Coach at Rowing Australia’s Women’s National Training Centre in Penrith (since 2016). The ACT Performance Pathway Program athletes are fortunate to have Tom to guide the next stages of their high-performance journeys”
Rowing ACT Vice-President Tobias Wehr-Candler commented, “We were fortunate to have an outstanding pool of candidates for this role. Tom’s vision for the performance pathway in the ACT stood out, and we are confident his experience and leadership will elevate rowing in the territory to new heights.”
Tom will commence in his role on the 28th January. Rowing ACT thanks the community for their support during this transitional period, and we look forward to seeing great results from our ACT athletes over the coming months and years.