1898 Rowing Victoria State Championships

The Championship Sculls and Fours were generally conducted at the end of a calendar year and up to this point were recorded in the year of racing. From this point forward, the Victorian Rowing Association recorded the Championships on the basis of the seasons, and this history has followed that convention. This however creates a gap of one year even though the races were held continuously. The records henceforth display the races that took place according to the relevant rowing season, which means for example, a race found under the 1899 link on this website may have occurred late in 1898 such as this sculls race. 

This did not impact the eights Championship which was generally raced in the second half of the season.

The Championship Sculls and Fours were generally conducted at the end of a calendar year and up to this point were recorded in the year of racing. From this point forward, the Victorian Rowing Association recorded the Championships on the basis of the seasons, and this history has followed that convention. This however creates a gap of one year even though the races were held continuously. The records henceforth display the races that took place according to the relevant rowing season, which means for example, a race found under the 1899 link on this website may have occurred late in 1898 such as this fours race.

This did not impact the eights Championship which was generally raced in the second half of the season.

1^st Banks – Bow: H C Edwards, 2: A H Neale, 3: A A Brown, 4: F J E James, 5: A H James, H J Hughes, 7: A Lewis, Str: T Davies, Cox: A Hobson

2^nd Albert Park

3^rd Mercantile - Bow: A R Moses, 2: C E P McNamara, 3: B G Connor, 4: Aylwin, 5: A E Hood, 6: William Potter, 7: J A Strong, Str: Alex B Sloan

The early stages of the Champion Eights

Mercantile in the foreground, Albert Park centre and Banks on the far side

The Mercantile crew raced well for the first 1 3/4 miles and the spectators predicted their victory. However, the crew lost their rhythm and fell apart leaving the door open for the other crews to row through them.