UNSW Rowing Club in Sydney, Australia is a varsity rowing club of the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

and was founded in 1952. It has occupied its current boatshed at Huntley's Cove on

Tarban Creek Tarban Creek, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a creek west of Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ecology Tarban Creek starts near Earnshaw Parade in Gladesville and runs along a concrete base through Tarba ...

on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. S ...

since 1974. The club has a varsity and masters focus. Tarban Creek Bridge

History

The University was founded in 1949 as the New South Wales University of Technology, a campus commenced at Kensington in 1951 with a name change to

occurring in 1958. In its early days the University's rowing club had no boatshed of its own but borrowed facilities from North Shore Rowing Club, Riverview, Colleagues Leichhardt,

Sydney Rowing Club Sydney Rowing Club is the oldest rowing club in New South Wales, Australia formed in 1870. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's Parramatta River at Abbotsford Point since 1874. The club has a focus on its high performance and elite ...

and the

Sydney University Boat Club Sydney University Boat Club is the rowing club in Sydney, Australia with the oldest charter having been formed in 1860 by the founders of the University of Sydney. It has had a boatshed presence in various locations on Sydney Harbour since 1886, ...

from 1966. In the 1970s the University Union secured a site in the grounds of the

Gladesville Mental Hospital The Gladesville Mental Hospital, formerly known as the Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital established in 1838 in the Sydney suburb of Gladesville. The hospital officially closed in 1993, with the last inpatient services ce ...

and built a boatshed and pontoon which was completed in 1974. The club has a long history of making its facilities available to school crews, initially Cranbrook and later the

Sydney Girls High School Sydney Girls High School (abbreviated as SGHS or Sydney Girls) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary da ...

from 1987. When the club outgrew its facilities it partnered with the SGHS Rowing Club to expand onto land immediately adjacent and the school contributed funding to establish their own facilities within the new building. The new two-storey boat house was built at a cost of $1.5M dividing the UNSW and school boat storage areas, changerooms and clubrooms with an upper level containing a function space overlooking

. The new facility was opened in 2009. The UNSW section of the shed is named the ''Murray Clarke Boatshed'' in honour of the stalwart Head Coach whose tenure at the club spans over thirty years. The SGHS section was named the ''Margaret Varady Rowing Facility'' in honour of the contribution made by the former principal towards schoolgirl rowing, including having been instrumental with Clarke in securing the land and funding for the new boathouse. The club's old boathouse still stands and was from 2009 to 2017 on loan to the

whose own Linley Point shed was destroyed by fire in 2006.

Competition

The UNSW Rowing Club has boated crews at the Australian Universities Championships since 1956. William Hatfield was the club's first national Intervarsity champion winning the Wills Trophy in 1956 and 1957 and taking 2nd place in 1961 and 1962. The UNSW men's eight has never yet won the

Oxford and Cambridge Cup The Oxford and Cambridge Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Australian University Championship Eight (rowing), Men's Eight (formerly the Australian Universities Boat Race), and is competed for annually at the Australian University Ga ...

but was runner-up in 1961, 1966 and 1983.

Members

Notable members include: * Murray Clarke, OAM Head Coach and club stalwart from the 1970s till 2012. * Tim Conrad, won the national

coxed four A coxed four, also known as a 4+, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one ...

title in 1976 in a NSW selection composite crew wearing UNSW colours. That year he rowed in the winning New South Wales King's Cup crew and went to the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the Australian eight. * Andrew L Horsley, an Australian representative cross-country skier & Olympic ski coach was a competitive member of the club from the 1970s to 90s. * Chris Childs, won the Women's Single Scull Championship at the 1980 National Intervarsity Championship in Canberra. * Nick Baxter rowed at the 2001 World Championships in the Australian eight and the following year won the Australian Universities Championship in a UNSW coxless pair.Aust Varsity C'ship at Guerin Foster
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References

External links

* http://www.unswrowing.com.au/ {{University of New South Wales Rowing clubs in Australia Sports clubs and teams established in 1952 1952 establishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams in Sydney University of New South Wales student organisations University and college sports clubs in Australia