History of AAGPS Head of the River Rowing Regatta

1968 NSW AAGPS Head of the River

King’s Again at Regatta (Sydney Morning Herald, 07 Apr 1968)

King’s put in a strong finish to win the G.P.S. rowing classic by 2 ½ lengths. Riverview was second, with St. Joseph’s a canvas away third. The title favourites, Newington finish a disappointing fifth.

It was balmy boating and barbecue weather for the 70^th Head of the River. More than 35,000 people packed the banks of the Nepean River at Penrith. The crowds began arriving soon after breakfast and some came prepared to stay long into the night.

But few were aware that overnight attempts had been made to sabotage the race. Police were told that a group of students had planned to raid the boatsheds of the eights and remove equipment from some of the racing shells.

Throughout the night several carloads of youths roamed the Penrith area. But they fled when police arrived on the scene. A worried G.P.S. official, however, then arranged for armed security men to patrol the boatshed from midnight to dawn.

Long lines of cars and buses, bedecked with ribbons and bunting of the various G.P.S. school colurs jammed the highway to Penrith from early morning. Special trains, packed with thousands of more young supporters, rolled out of Sydney on the hour.

race finish line

Senior 1st Eight

Major Rennie Trophy

7:53.80

2 ½ lengths

Canvas

1^st The King’s School – Bow: C.P.B. Colless, 2: J.K. Harrington, 3: C.M. Fullerton, 4: A.D.O. Jackson, 5: M.H. Sempe, 6: M.J. Slackcent, 7: J.F. Wilson, Str: R.M. Vincent, Cox: H.S. Bligh, Cch: R.W. Buntine

2^nd Riverview

3^rd St. Joseph’s

4^th Grammar

5^th Newington

6^th Shore

7^th Scots

8^th High

Senior 2nd Eight

9:15.40

½ length

1 ¼ lengths

1^st Newington – Bow: P.D. Richards, 2: R.W. Miles, 3: R.J. Bell, 4: J.A. Snelgrove, 5: B.S. Polins, 6: W.A. Dovers, 7: R.J. Webster, Str: G.S. Wellis, Cox: P.W. Pteiner, Cch: D.N. Burrell, K.W. Amos

2^nd The King’s School

3^rd Riverview

4^th St. Joseph’s

5^th Grammar

6^th Shore

7^th Scots

8^th High

Senior 1st Four

Yaralla Cup

5:50.50

¾ length

½ length

1^st The King’s School – Bow: I.S. Napier, 2: G.K.A. Paver, 3: R.G. Carter, Str: P.D. Finlay, Cox: G.R. Symes, Cch: P.E. Spencer

2^nd Shore

3^rd Newington

4^th St. Joseph’s

5^th High

6^th Riverview

7^th Grammar

8^th Scots

Senior 2nd Four

5:59.00

1 ¼ lengths

¾ length

1^st Shore – Bow: J.A. Trebeck, 2: J.N.V. Barling, 3: S.A.L. Wallace, Str: G.A. Hawkins, Cox: J.G. Gordon, Cch: R. Wilkinson

2^nd Grammar

3^rd Newington

4^th St. Joseph’s

5^th The King’s School

6^th High

7^th Riverview

8^th Scots

Senior 3rd Four

6:08.10

2ft

1^st Newington – Bow: A.R. Farrar, 2: J.T. Seeto, 3: A. Postlethwaite, Str: G.B. Walker, Cox: J Leeming, Cch: E.W. Chapman

2^nd The King’s School

3^rd Shore

4^th Scots

5^th Grammar

6^th St. Joseph’s

7^th High

8^th Riverview

Senior 4th Four

6:03.40

2 lengths

1^st Grammar – Bow: J.D. Champion, 2: J.A. Livingston, 3: D.M. Townsend, Str: N. Simpson, Cox: C.E. Wilkinson, Cch: P.K. Rudder

2^nd The King’s School

3^rd Scots

4^th Riverview

5^th Newington

6^th Shore

7^th High

8^th St. Joseph’s

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Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, errors may exist. Please send advice of any errors or inaccuracies by email to:

Also your comments, suggestions and photos are sought to enhance this site.

The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004
These contents of this history are copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. However given that the purpose of the history is to assist rowers and rowing clubs, written permission is not required for non-commercial usage by rowers and rowing clubs provided acknowledgement is made.

Disclaimer: Whilst extensive efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied, the editors take no responsibility for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from inaccuracies contained in this work.

1968 NSW AAGPS Head of the River

Senior 1st Eight

Senior 2nd Eight

Senior 1st Four

Senior 2nd Four

Senior 3rd Four

Senior 4th Four

NSW AAGPS Head of River

Summaries