🥇 Success in Perth – 2026 Australian Masters Rowing Championships The 2026 Australian Masters Rowing Championships were held in the final week of May at Champion Lakes in Perth, bringing together competitors from across Australia and beyond. A strong New Zealand contingent, largely from the lower North Island, made the journey across the Tasman—and returned home with an impressive haul of medals. 🇳🇿 Kiwi Representation The New Zealand group featured: Kerry Dombroski and G

The recipients of the 2026 Legion of Rowers Awards are seven grateful rowers from the North Island. This year the Legion is in a position to award $4,000 to each rower covering around 20% of their campaign costs and helping these talented young rowers represent New Zealand on the world stage. The funding for these awards comes from the Legion of Rowers $3,000 (North Island Masters rowers and Legion members) and our sponsor - C&R Insurance and ICIB Brokerweb Ltd $1,000. The t

Thank you Rowing NZ for this most unexpected and humbling honour- thank you Sport NZ for this wonderful evening and everyone for your ovation. This honour has come quite out of the blue for me and has completely bowled me over. The first thing I thought of when I received this news was “Why me? This got me thinking back at my key moments in sport, and I kept coming back to the same thing ‘ He tangata, He tangata, he tangata – it’s really all about the people, the people who

Sponsored by C&R and ICIB Brokerweb Insurance Blue Lake (Lake Tikitapu) Regatta August 29 and 30, 2026 Two days of racing Saturday 29th August: Single gender, 1000 metres Where there is more than 1 Heat in a category there will be a Final race at the end of the same Block. Sunday 30th August: Mixed Racing, 1000 metres, 2 person, 4 person and 8 person events AND Long Distance Race - approx 4 km for all boat classes Food and Beverages Food stalls will be on-site. Bring your ow

Photos by Judy Shadbolt The recipients were: CONSTANZE DUELL, Bay of Plenty Coast: Womens A-D Single - Doctor Stuart Reid Cup DAN DE GROOT, Star Boating Club: Men's A-D Single - Stuart Wade Blade STEVE WESTLAKE, North Shore Rowing Club: Men's E-M Single - John Marshall Trophy 1892 JAMES AND MICHAEL BRAKE, North Shore Rowing Club: Men's A-D Double - Stuart Wade Blade BRITTANY SMITH AND AMANDA BADGER, West End Rowing Club: Women's A-D Double - Alexander Farmer 1924 Trophy BRUC

Hear an update from three 2025 award recipients - Angella Carney, Blake Cooper and Maclaine Stuart. Angella Carney Thank you again to you and the Legion of Rowers for your generous support of my U19 campaign. It was an unforgettable experience that taught me a lot. Since then, I have raced a club season with Waikato Rowing Club, where I placed second in the senior double, quad and eight at nationals. I definitely found club rowing very different to school programs, but I ulti

Under 22 Coxed Four - silver winners at the Oceania Team Champs Australian, May 2026 Four of the 2025 Under 19 Award recipients were selected to represent the North Island in the U22 team to race at the recent Oceania Teams Champs in Australia in May 2026. They were Angalla Carney Blake Cooper Jack Buckley Nathan Strachan The team travelled an hour inland of Brisbane to Lake Wyaralong to race as a North Island team against the Australian State teams and the South Island. Anga

As a passionate rower and club organizer, the thought of competing in the World Masters Games (WMG) fills me with excitement. Scheduled for May 14-30, 2027, in Japan's vibrant Kansai region, this event is a dream for masters athletes. While many associate Japan with Tokyo, the WMG is centered in Kansai – encompassing cities like Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe – with rowing events at the stunning Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. Read more HERE How to organise your Club? This guide will

This year the event took place at Lake Rotoiti in Nelson Lakes National Park and saw 310 competitors from 26 clubs lining up for honours. With ANZAC day falling on Saturday, the weekend began with a short ceremony of remembrance and a rowing guard of honour. This was followed by the Craigs Investment Partners 5km race from the head of the lake back to the 1km course along Kerr Bay. Big boat honours went to AVON in the Mens 8, AWARUA in Mixed and the AUCKLAND RC Woman’s G 8. T

(By Nicky Knowles, Cambridge Rowing Club) Nicky Knowles & Peter Fraser at Lake Rotoiti I am a mediocre rower. There, I said it — and honestly, I’m okay with that. Maybe it’s because I’m inherently a bit lazy at times and I lack motivation when life gets in the way perhaps? A conversation for a different time I feel Rowing is technically a very hard sport to master, especially when you didn’t start as a nimble teenager. In theory, once you have good technique and solid fitne

Why Rowing Camps Matter Going on camp is a fantastic way to invest in your rowing skills and fitness. Many clubs organise camps focused on technique, crew selection, and training. These camps provide a unique opportunity to enhance your abilities while connecting with fellow rowers. Camps are also a chance for an overseas adventure. Some locations and coaches should definitely be on your rowing bucket list. Imagine rowing in beautiful settings while learning from the best in

Para rowing in New Zealand is predominantly masters participants. Ross Webb is working on recruitment into the youth section of clubs - April 25th is a have a go weekend in the Waikato. Some are new to rowing and others are switching from other codes. Some para rowers have been in the sport a long time like Ron Satherly, many are new to rowing aged 30-60. They all suffer from one thing - whatever ails them gives them consternation - either changes are needed to prosthetics or

Alison Dutton mixed quad on dock Most clubs think they do. They have a masters program. They have a coach. They have a slot on the water on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Job done. But here's the question worth sitting with: does your club serve the competitive masters athlete who wants to race at national level and the 68-year-old who joined last spring and just wants to stay on the water for the rest of their life? Because those are not the same person, and a single train

How to set up a Gifts in Wills bequest fundraising programme for your rowing club

Readers may have noticed that AON ended their sponsorship of Rowing New Zealand in October last year. It appears that the underlying reason is that globally they have withdrawn from the Marine Pleasurecraft Insurance market. Rebecca Caroe and Natalee Taylor had insurance with AON for their 2x and were advised that the business had been transferred to AMI who would "see you right". After much discussion with brokers and the AMI team, it appears that they will not insure privat

Rowing New Zealand is launching a national series of Masters Training Camps in 2026. They are now inviting clubs to express interest in hosting one of these weekend camps. Camp Overview Each camp will include: • Four on-water sessions in big boats (more where possible) • Erg and technical video analysis • Education seminars • Individual feedback for participants (videos) Camps will cater for 16–24 masters rowers, grouped by ability. These initial camps are not designed for ra

Your rowing club is probably like many others, dependent on external sources of money to run your club each year. Whether you apply for grants or host sausage sizzles, both are time consuming and raise money only for the current season. Next year you have to do it all over again. How to get away from sausage sizzles, give-a-little, and endless grant applications. How to become a self-funding club with strong community connections. Your questions answered There is another

Consider this: ninety percent of the time, your boathouse building and equipment sits idle. Between morning and evening training sessions, during midday weekdays, and throughout slower seasons, your valuable facilities generate no income. What if you could change that? The concept of sweating your assets was famously pioneered by McDonald's in the 1970s. Ray Kroc realised that his restaurants sat largely empty during morning hours, with staff and buildings incurring costs b

Photo: Grant Craies leading the crew from the boat park. Photo Credit: Melanie Lo The famous Auckland schools regatta, Head of the Harbour, has started adding Masters events to the schedule. Run on Saturday 7th February there were strong entries in the Masters single sculls event with West End's Amanda Badger winning and Brittany Smith coming second. Honourable mention to the lone Cambridge Sculler. Jen Muller making the journey north. The masters Doubles event was also wo

A small regional rowing regatta in New Zealand has sparked an unexpected debate about what happens when elite athletes compete alongside weekend warriors. The Blue Lake Regatta, known for its relaxed atmosphere and community feel, recently hosted Olympic gold medallist Emma Twigg and fellow elite rowers Finn Hamill, Matt Dunham, and Michael Brake competing in a range of events including mixed masters eight, quad and double. Their participation drew an angry response from on