The Program provides encouragement for experienced para-rowers to take their rowing to higher levels, and can boast an impressive medal tally over the past 6 years.
Several of the current participants having competed at NSW State Championship Regatta and Australian National Championship Regatta level. In 2015 the Program was instrumental in organising the largest field of para-rower competitors in history at the Australian National Championship Regatta in Sydney attracting persons from all States. In 2016, the Program’s head coach, Liam James, organised para rowers from across Australia to come together and compete in two crews in the Head of the Yarra in Melbourne.
We congratulate our Paralympian, Jeremy McGrath.
In 2014 and 2015 a member of the Program, Jeremy McGrath, represented Australia at the rowing World Championships (winning Silver in LTA Mix2x in 2014). In April this year, Jeremy was selected as part of the LTA Mixed Four crew representing Australia at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Italy. The crew made history when they won gold in their event, qualifying the boat for the 2016 Paralympic Games, the first time Australia has been represented in this boat class at the Paralympic Games.
This crew faced strong competition at the Paralympic Games, winning the B Final of the LTAMix4+ event.
In 2013 the Program made rowing history by entering the first Australian LTA crew in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston USA. The Program invited para-rowers from across Australia to travel to Sydney over several weekends to train for the Regatta. The crew, Carol Cooke (Vic), Steve Knott (NSW), Kate Murdoch (NSW), Peter Siri (QLD) and Nell Duly – Cox (NSW), won their race in an almost record time.
Having achieved this amazing victory, a Balmain Rowing Club LTA crew had automatic entry into the next year’s regatta. And we took up the challenge returning to Boston after several weekends of training in Sydney with a second crew.
Nell Duly, our coxswain from last year steered the crew of Kate Murdoch who also raced last year, Jeremy McGrath who had been rowing for only one year, Kevin Wall an Irishman with international rowing experience then resident in Perth and Narelle Burnside (Vic) who was returning to rowing. This crew was narrowly defeated by four seconds. The Program plans to return in future years.
In 2011/12, 2013/14 and 2014/15, the hard work of the members of the Program that race for the Balmain Rowing Club (BRC) paid off with BRC winning the Rowing NSW Premiership Pointscore for Para Rowing.
The 2016 winter racing regatta series J.B. Sharp Regatta series, held on Iron Cove in June and July each year, for the first time include para-rowing races, supporting the desire of the growing number of para-rowers to be included in all regattas currently open to able bodied rowers. BRC won the Pointscore for this inaugural event.
2016 also saw the inclusion of a para rowing entry LTA Mix8+ in the Head of the Yarra Regatta (held on the Yarra River – Melbourne) for the first time. Again, the Program pulled together para-rowers from across Australia to enter a crew. Having never raced as a crew before, these rowers competed the 8.6km in very credible time of 38.39:36, coming 230th out of 255 entries.