History of Essendon Ladies' Rowing Club
Table of Contents
Chapters
- Methodology
- Establishment of the Club
- Red and Black - the Origins of an Essendon Tradition
- Australian Champions
- Premierships in the Thirties
- Potential Folding Precedes Amalgamation
- Fire Ends an Era
- Ladies of Today's Essendon Rowing Club
- Analysis and Conclusions
- Bibliography
Appendix
5. Premierships in the Thirties
The ELRC won the ladies premiership every single year from 1933 to 1939 (with the exception of the 1937/38 season wherein they tied), according to the ERC Annual Reports for each of those years. One example of the acknowledgement the ERC gives is as follows: "The premiership of the Ladies Rowing Association was again won by the local club we congratulate them." (ERC, Annual Report I936/37, no pagination).
The 1930s were a decade of great achievements for the ELRC. However, the Essendon ladies still had to push through the strong head wind of the attitudes of society.
... girls who continued with sport beyond their school days found that old prejudices against physical activity for females persisted. In rowing ... leading women competitors practised regularly to improve technique and stamina. Press articles in the 1930s questioned whether this commitment might be 'harmful, to the women's health and, given the time required for them to train, commentators asked whether this compromised the rowers' domestic duties. (Daryl Adair, 'Rowing and Sculling', in Sport in Australia, pp.184-5, in Adair & Vamplew 1997, p. 52)
The Victorian Blazer of an unknown Essendon Ladies member of this era