Gold Coast schools, The Southport School and St Hilda’s, could become some of the first in the country to take advantage of the rule change that now allows female coxswains to steer boats crewed by males.
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In February last year, rowing’s governing body voted for coxes to become gender neutral, and news in recent days has centred on Kendall Brodie, who in March was announced as the first female to steer the Australian men’s eight at the World Rowing Cup, taking place this month.
Hot on the heels of that decision came the Head of the River championship by TSS at Wyaralong in March, stealing the title from St Joseph’s Nudgee College after their dominant five consecutive wins.
The TSS first VIII win meant that each of the schools representing the Gold Coast in schoolboy and schoolgirl rowing are the current Head of the River titleholders.
The St Hilda’s first VIII won the Schoolgirls Open VIII in record time last August, securing their first ever rowing title in the history of the school.
Now, both schools are set to continue their success under the guidance of one man – Director of Rowing, Adam Harrison.
Adam has been with TSS since 2015, driving a “cultural change” into the rowing program.
He said he knew it was only a matter of time before this translated into success.
“The coaching team, consisting of Duncan Free, Scott Wilkins and Stuart Paton, showed tremendous resilience, helping to guide the boys over the hurdles in front of them to take out the 2018 Head of the River.
“It was one of the gutsiest performances I have seen in my time involved with rowing – they had their best race on the day.”
Stuart Paton and Sean Carolan coached the St Hilda’s first VIII in 2017.
When Adam was offered the opportunity to help continue the success of both schools as Director of Rowing, he jumped at the chance.
“An opportunity presented itself at the end of the last season. St Hilda’s and TSS work very closely together on a number of fronts and this was just another opportunity to link together,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense as they utilise the TSS Rowing facility for training and the coaching teams are very similar.”
With the St Hilda’s 2018 training season off to a great start, Adam said the focus now for both schools was very much aimed at building on the success of the last season.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
