History of the South Australian Schools Head of the River rowing regatta

1940 South Australian Schools' Head of the River

Saturday, 20 April – Torrens Lake:

The 1940 edition of the SA Head of the River featured the following events on the Torrens Lake:

- First Eight

- Clinker Fours (Seconds)

- Open Tub Fours (Slides)

- Under 16 Tub Fours (Slides)

- Under 15 Tub Fours (Slides)

The Advertiser noted that there was a large crowd filling the banks of the Torrens. The final of the First Eight was enthralling with a dead-heat declared between St. Peter's College and Scotch College. However, as Scotch College won the race in the previous year, Scotch will retain the Gosse Shield. St. Peter's College won all the remaining events except the Clinker Fours, in which Adelaide High School.

First Eight

The Advertiser wrote about the exhilarating race between Scotch and St. Peter's College:

"Thrill of the afternoon was the final of the Head of the River eights. The buoys at the finish of the course were not in a straight line because of the angle of the approach, and the judges showed laudable impartiality by declaring a dead heat. The result put them on their mettle though, because first one gunshot was heard instead of the requisite three, and the royal blue tub (St. Peter's College colors) shot to the top of the signal post. It quickly descended, and was joined by the white of Scotch College. They were then hoisted together. And so Scotch, new star in the inter-schools rowing firmament, retains possession of the Gosse Shield for 12 months."

Organising Committee:

South Australian Rowing Association

Officials:

(unknown)

First Eight

Gosse Shield

½ mile

Time: 3 min 0.5 sec

Margin: dead heat

1st Scotch College –

1st St. Peter's College –

Clinker Four (Seconds)

Wallman Trophy

½ mile

Time:

Margin:

1st Adelaide High School –

Open Tub Fours (Slides)

¼ mile

Time:

Margin:

1st St. Peter's College –

Under 16 Tub Four (Slides)

¼ mile

Time:

Margin:

1st St. Peter's College –

Under 15 Tub Four (Slides)

¼ mile

Time:

Margin:

1st St. Peter's College –

Sources

OUT AMONG THE PEOPLE (1940, 22 April), The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1931 – 1954), p. 19, Retrieved January 10 2024, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/74439187

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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
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