Australian Rowing Championships

The Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's premier regatta, with states, clubs and schools sending their best crews. The Championships commence with the National Regatta - men's, women's and lightweight events in open, under 23, under 19, under 17 and school age categories. Rowers at the National Regatta race in their local club colours with composite crews permitted. The Championships conclude with the Interstate Regatta - currently eight events competed by state representative crews or scullers selected by the state rowing associations. The states compete for an overall points tally which decides the Zurich Cup.

Inter-colonial racing began in Australia in 1833 when a Sydney crew raced a Hobart crew in whalers. Schools, varsity and club events were the top-class races throughout the mid 19th century although New South Wales and Victoria raced regularly (though not annually) in men's IVs from 1863. In 1878 Victoria and New South Wales commenced inter-colonial racing in eight-oared boats and the other colonies and (later states) joined them such that by 1906 all six Australian states were sending a men's VIII and perhaps a sculler, to the annual Interstate Regatta.

A national open rowing championship was discussed at Australian Rowing Council meetings from 1946 but it wasn't until the 1960s that support for the concept was unanimous outside of New South Wales and Victoria. The first National Open Championship Regatta was held in 1962 and then was held every two years. Since 1969 the National Regatta has been annual and since 1976 has been held within the same single programme as the Interstate Regatta creating the combined Australian Rowing Championships.

The Interstate Regatta is held at the conclusion of the National Regatta and currently includes the following races for state representative crews:

Victoria and New South Wales commenced inter-colonial racing in eight-oared boats in 1878 when the Victorian Rowing Association invited New South Wales oarsmen from the Sydney and the Mercantile clubs to boat crews for a race on the lower Yarra River over about four miles. Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania all showed an interest in entering crews from the mid-1880s but disagreements over definitions of amateur status resulted in inconsistencies in eligibility criteria in the early decades. New South Wales held firm to a view that not just professional sportsmen and those employed around boats would be deemed non-amateurs but also all manual labourers. The other states had relaxed this view by 1899. Queensland and Tasmania first entered crews in 1885 and then Queensland raced regularly from 1890. From 1899 South Australia were racing annually. Following Federation the race became the interstate eight-oared championship with Tasmania and West Australia boating crews regularly by 1906.

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