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

1952 South Australian Schools' Head of the River

Saturday, 19 April – Torrens Lake:

The 1952 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)

Despite the crowd being smaller than previous years, The Advertiser reported that there were 6,000 in attendance along the banks of the Torrens. In sunny but slow conditions, St. Peter's showed their dominance yet again with a three-length win over Adelaide High School to make it six-straight wins of the Gosse Shield for First Eights. St. Peter's also took out the Open Tub Slides. However, Prince Alfred College won the Clinker Fours race as well as the Under 16 and 15 Tub Fours.

First Eight

The Advertiser wrote of St. Peter's College's dominant win of the First Eight in 1952:

"The weather was kind, with bight sunshine for most of the afternoon, but conditions were not favorable to fast times. The final was rowed in 3 min 4 2-5 sec, the slowest race since 1938, tbut due in some degree to the fact that Saints was not extended to produce a greater effort...Scotch was unfortunate in the first heat, fouling High School coming tbrough Morphett Street Bridge. The college defeated High School by a canvas but was disqualified by the course umpire."

Winners of the 1952 SA Head of the River – St. Peter's College
(Source: The Mail, 19 April 1952)

Organising Committee:

South Australian Rowing Association

Officials:

(unknown)

First Eight

Gosse Shield

½ mile

Time: 3 min 04⅖ sec

Margin: 3 lengths

1st St. Peter's College – Bow: J. Burr, 2: C. J. Cooper, 3: J. Bryan, 4: D. Lea, 5: P. Brett, 6: L. George, 7: J. Hancock, Stroke: A. Matthews, Cox: P. Forgan

2nd Adelaide High School –

(Knocked out in heat by St. Peter's College):

Prince Alfred College –

(Knocked out in heat by Adelaide High School):

Scotch College –

Clinker Four (Seconds)

Wallman Trophy

½ mile

Time: (unknown)

Margin: 1 length

1st Prince Alfred College – Bow: Simpson, 2: Holland, 3: Brown, Stroke: Longbottom, Cox: Gibson

2nd St. Peter's College –

(Knocked out in heat by Prince Alfred College):

Adelaide High School –

(Knocked out in heat by St. Peter's College):

Scotch College –

Open Tub Four (Slides)

¼ mile

Time: (unknown)

Margin: 1 length

1st St. Peter's College – Bow: Longstaff, 2: Millar, 3: Wallman, Stroke: Pennington, Cox: Wainwright

2nd Prince Alfred College –

(Knocked out in heat by St. Peter's College):

Scotch College –

(Knocked out in heat by Prince Alfred College):

Adelaide High School –

Under 16 Tub Four (Slides)

¼ mile

Time: (unknown)

Margin: 3 lengths

1st Prince Alfred College – Bow: Cox, 2: Prider, 3: Siegele, Stroke: Silk, Cox: Cameron

2nd Scotch College –

(Knocked out in heat by Prince Alfred College):

St. Peter's College –

(Knocked out in heat by Scotch College):

Adelaide High School –

Under 15 Tub Four (Slides)

¼ mile

Time: (unknown)

Margin: ¾ length

1st Prince Alfred College – Bow: Brown, 2: Richardson, 3: Clarke, Stroke: Buckland, Cox: Butler

2nd Adelaide High School –

(Knocked out in heat by Prince Alfred College):

St. Peter's College –

(Knocked out in heat by Adelaide High School):

Scotch College –

Sources

Head-of-River to St. Peter's (1952, 19 April), The Mail (Adelaide, SA: 1912 – 1954), p. 29, Retrieved February 22 2024, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55747559

Saints' Sixth Success In Head-Of-River (1952, 21 April), The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1931 – 1954), p. 8, Retrieved February 22 2024, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47378696

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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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