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History of AAGPS Head of the River Rowing Regatta

1905 NSW AAGPS Head of the River:

Saturday, 6 May

Three crews competed in the 1905 Regatta on the Parramatta River:

-  St. Ignatius College

-  Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore)

-  Sydney Grammar School

The weather was extermely wet and consequently the crowd was lower than previous years. The tide was also going against the direction of the racing. St. Ignatius got away ahead of the other boats and contnually moved away throughout the race to win by an impressive 5 lengths. This ended Grammar’s 3-year streak of winning the Major Rennie trophy.

The Sydney Morning Herald wrote the following of St. Ignatius’ breakthrough win in 1905:

“St Ignaitius got away at a fast but lengthy stroke and with a good lifting swing. Church of England rowed nicely and held onto the leaders, but Sydney Grammar was very slugish. At Gladesville, St. Ignatius was a half-length in front, and with another minnute’s rowing had drawn clear. At Tennyson St. Ignatius was two lengths in front of Church of England, and three lengths of Sydney grammar. The leaders were rowing well, and seemed as vigorous as ever, but Church of England was getting tired and slow, and soon droppd a long way behind Sydney Grammar, which seemed to improve over the last half-mile. The judge’s decision was St. Ignatius by five lengths, and three lengths between the other two crews. The time was 9m 15s, which is slow, but the tide was against the boats.”

Index to Results:


Officials and Organising Committee:

Starters and Judges: Mr. M. A. H. Fitzhardinge & Mr. J. Degotardi

Umpire: Mr. Q. L. Deloitte

Timekeeper: Mr. A. E. Nash

Committee: Messrs. A. D. Hall, W. H. Savigny, H. Marks & B. A. McBride


Head of the River

1 mile, 550 yards

Time: 9 min 15 sec 

1st St. Ignatius College – Bow: D. Clarke, 2: R. V. McDonnell, 3: J. Carlton, Str: J. Conlon, Cox: A. Kelly

Margin: 5, 3 lengths

2nd Sydney Grammar School  Bow: W. K. Inglis, 2: H. H. A. Burne, 3: L. E. D. Richardson, Str: C. R. Lucas, Cox: S. E. Mathews

3rd Sydney Church of England Grammar School – Bow: F. G. A. Pockley, 2: J. A. Luscombe, 3: O. H. Dean, Str: S. C. Irving, Cox: F. W. M. Busby


Second Crews

Time: Not known

1st St Ignatius College


Sources:

ROWING. (1905, 8 May), The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW: 1842 – 1954), p. 4, Retrieved 17 January 2021, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14680231

ST. IGNATIUS ROWING CLUB. (1905, 12 May), The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW: 1887 – 1909), p. 4, Retrieved 17 January 2021, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/231861231



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