Fergus has been the only athlete to row in all nine winning crews. When asked after the race if he would be back in 2014 to try for ten in a row Fergus replied: “Looks like I’ll have to go around again!”

The Championship Men’s eights of NSW were contested by SUBC, Sydney Rowing Club, Mercantile and Melbourne University from Victoria, Pine Rivers, Queensland and Canberra.

The Sydney University crew was cox: Toby Lister, Fergus Pragnell, Hamish Playfair, Nick Purnell, Sasha Belonogoff, Ryan Edwards, Kit Cunningham Reid, Jack Hargreaves and Cam Girdlestone.

Staring on the southern bank in lane 2 the SUBC crew too an early lead of two seconds over Sydney at the 500metre mark, extending this gradually to 3 seconds at the 1500 metre point and 3.7 seconds at the line. Sydney were missing James Chapman through injury but lead by their excellent AIS based pair of Spencer Turrin and Alex Lloyd they fought hard all the way to stay with the university boat.

The battle for the bronze medal was tight between the two Victorian clubs with Mercantile just edging Melbourne University from the medals by 17 hundredths of a second.

The Gold Cup men’s eights was considered by pundits as a contest between Sydney Rowing Club and Sydney University with most feeling Sydney were slight favourites.

On the day Sydney had to withdraw Chris Morgan (Simon Nola) while Sydney Uni had to sub for Ryan Edwards and Sasha Belonogoff (illness) and Tom Sacre (recovering from a push bike accident). Both crews won their heats and their semi-finals with comparative ease though SUBC showed signs of some good form with a faster time.

Sydney University were fortunate to have Fergus Pragnell come up from Melbourne on Thursday to train with the eight and take the stroke seat.

For the final Sydney were drawn in lane 2, University in 3 with St Ignatius Riverview in lane 1 and Kings lane 4.The tide was running out ( against the crews) and near low point while there was a very slight tail breeze. The Sydney University crew pre-race talked about the need on such a short course (1400 metres) to take an aggressive approach, maintain a high rating but row with smoothness and composure.

Because of the dog-leg course the crews have a staggered start. Both the favoured crews move out of the start quickly above 40 and it seemed that Sydney University might have just a seat advantage at the 200 metre point. The uni boat had settled at 40 strokes with Jonny Rundle in 6 backing up the rhythm from stroke Pragnell.

At the 500 metre mark the Sydney Rowing Club crew moved up and took a slight advantage. From here to the 850 mark the two club crews fought a battle for the lead as the crews raced almost evenly. At the 850 mark a surge by Sydney Uni saw them take seats quickly and by the leaning pile the lead had extended to three quarters of a length. Riverview were running third and Kings School in fourth.

As the crew rounded the pile and straightened for home it was Sydney Uni upping the rate to 41 who moved out to clear water over Sydney. On the line it was University first in 4.03.8 about 3.5 seconds ahead of Sydney, 14 seconds to St Ignatius in third and 19 seconds to Kings in 4th.

Sydney University first won the Gold Cup in 1908 and did not win again till 1962. Since 2000 SUBC has been a regular winner of this prestigious trophy. The 2012 was SUBC’s fifth in a row.

For Sydney Uni cox, Toby Lister this was his eight Gold Cup – possibly some sort of record.

Interestingly the boat used was the “Gavin Brown” and Empacher eight. Since this boat was purchased in late 2008 it has won 4 King’s Cup, 5 Gold Cups, and 4 NSW Elite Eights Championships. 3 Australian Boat Races and 2 Nationals U23 Eights Championships.

Blessed with light winds and a partially sunny and partially overcast morning the harbour was at its calmest as the four crews warmed up on the Lane Cove River.

The women’s eights we first up and Melbourne was favoured having won convincingly in the two match races so far in 2010 and 2011. On board was Phoebe Stanley who most recently stroked the Australian Women’s eight at the London Olympics. Melbourne had won the toss and chosen the northern station. The crews tucked into the Woolwich shoreline under the direction of umpire Barbara Ramjan who dropped the flag at 8.20 am and the crews were away. Both crews started strongly and after 400 metres rounded Greenwich Point neck and neck. In the run across to Long Nose Point Melbourne seemed to have a smoother ryhthmn and pulled out to a length lead. Across Snails Bay Melbourne increased their advantage to hold out to four lengths by Simmons Point at East Balmain. Just after East Balmain the Sydney women pushed hard and cut the lead of Melbourne slightly but were not able to get close enough to really challenge.

Melbourne’s steady stroking and good technical work brought them into the final southerly reach to Darling Harbour well ahead and they maintained and improved their lead through to the finish at Cockle Bay marina to record a six length victory. The Sydney team made up ground on the 2011 result but have a lot of improvement to if they are to aspire to victory on the Yarra in 2013.

The New South Wales Minister for Sport, Mr Graham Annesley presented the Bella Guerin trophy to Monica McGauran the crew captain of Melbourne University while Sydney University’s Vice Chancellor Dr Michael Spence presented Australian Boat Race medals to both crews.

Next up was the men. This event had been a titanic struggle in 2011 on the Yarra with the lead changing several times and Sydney prevailing by just “inches”. On paper Melbourne had an improved crew for 2012 filled with national senior and U23 oarsmen. Both crews played a waiting game in the start area with neither wanting to be the first to approach the starter as they warmed up. Finally at 9.17 the crews moved into the start zone and umpire Greg Smith began the line-up. Running a minute behind schedule the flag was dropped at 9.21 am and a fierce battle for “king of the harbour” ensued.

Initially Melbourne held the slightest of advantages on the northern station. As the crews passed the Greenwich buoy they were almost level and the noise from blade clashes was clear about the din of the following flotilla as Sydney cox Raven seemed to try and hold Melbourne close to the Greenwich shore. As the crews crossed from Greenwich to Birchgrove there were further clashes and some harsh words exchanged between boats as umpire Smith was called in to separate the crews with some stern words of his own.

Conditions were smooth and becoming sunny as the 2 km mark approached with Sydney slowly gaining an advantage of a quarter of a length. It seemed that the tempo set by Pragnell (stroke) and Lloyd (seven) was consistent, rhythmical and strong allowing the Sydney crew to move further out. By East Balmain they had a clear water lead of one and a quarter lengths and were looking hard to beat. Melbourne attacked a number of times in the final five minutes with each attack countered by Sydney. The crews passed under Pyrmont Bridge with Sydney five seconds ahead and they held this to the line as Federal Minister for Sport, Hon Senator Kate Lundy dropped the flag to signal the finish of the 2012 Australian Boat Race.

Medals were presented to the crews by the Vice Chancellor of Melbourne University, Professor Glyn Davis and the Edmund Barton Trophy was handed to Sydney captain Fergus Pragnell by Minister Kat Lundy.

The event included a long trailer drive to South Australia which has its share of drama as the main towing bar on our trailer snapped just out of Wagga. Fortunately of Head Women’s Coach, Debbie Fox was able to get the trailer to the side of the road safely but the accident meant a day’s delay as the trailer had to be towed back to Wagga and extensively repaired. Thanks to David Gely, coach of Uni of New South Wales. Dave was following with his trailer and was able to take a few of the Sydney University boats which were needed urgently in Adelaide for the start of the competition.

Conditions at Westlakes were poor and on the finals day were almost atrocious with winds gusting to 50 kilometres per hour. Conditions meant crews could not use the start pontoons as the boast were impossible to hold in position and the risk of boat damage was too great.

In the final of the women’s eight it was the Sydney Uni women who started strongly along with Adelaide and Uni of South Australia. Sydney and Uni of SA soon opened up a lead on the rest of the field. As the crews reached a patch of better water Sydney cox Gen Fick called for an effort and our girls quickly opened up clear water. In the gruelling conditions other challenges were always going to be hard to mount and the Sydney girls steadily increased their lead through the race. Adelaide pushed past Uni of SA to secure second with Monash fourth and Australian National University fifth. At the line Sydney had a clear 13 second margin.

The winning crew was stroked by lightweight Holly Lawrence and the rest of the crew moving down the boat were Marianna Doumanis, India Evans, Nicola Metcalfe, Lydia Yerrell, Kellie Parker, Maddie Cavanagh and Peta Blundell.

Our women’s team also grabbed gold in women’s four and the pair. Combined with placings in the lightweight four and the lightweight single (Petria Carter) the Sydney University women were able to take out the Amanda Young Rose Bowl as the overall women’s champions for the 2012 intervarsity competition.

This was our new Head Coach, Debbie Fox’s first major competition as coaching our women’s team and special congratulations to her for such a fantastic result.

The Sydney men sent only a small team to contest the eight, four and double scull. The crew of John Rundle, Sasha Belonogoff, Tom Sacre and Kit Cunningham –Reid coxed by Will Raven won the four from ANU and Melbourne Uni while Peter Koster and Ben Scott finished with bronze in the double. Unfortunately on the final day Tom McClintock had a rib injury and we had to withdraw our eight – losing the opportunity to race for the Oxford and Cambridge Cup this year.

This year national eights from Germany, Australia and Great Britain will take part with the event concluding on Sunday 30th September.

SUBC’s Nick Purnell, Ryan Edwards and Matt Edstein have been selected in what is an Australian development eight for this event. Purnell has recently returned from London after stroking the Aussie men’s eight at the 2012 Olympics. Ryan Edwards (stroke) has this year won bronze in the men’s quad at the U23 World Championships and only two weeks ago stroked the Sydney Uni eight to a remarkable “come from behind” victory in the Gallagher Great Race in New Zealand. Matt Edstein rowed in the SUBC U21 squad in 2007-8 winning the NSW U21 eights that season. Matt studied at Harvard from 2008 to 2012 recently winning the Ladies Challenge Plate at 2012 Henley Royal in the Harvard eight. Also in this crew are NSW rowers Spencer Turrin and Alex Lloyd from Sydney Rowing club – both were members of the 2012 Australian U23 eight.

The Australian eight is coached by Tom Morris, Head Coach of Sydney Rowing Club. Tom coached the 2012 Australian U23 Men’s eight to bronze at the U23 World Championships.

The day started with quite a bit of rain making things a little uncomfortable for spectators. In the women’s eight Sydney University led by Olympians Sally Kehoe and Sarah Cook took an early lead over Waikato. In this race it is important for crews to stay in close to the bank to avoid the 4 km per hour plus current that flows. At one stage Sydney got a bit wide off the bank allowing Waikato to make a push on the inside and take a lead which they held to the finish. Result: Waikato, Sydney and Brisbane.

The crews select their start positions based on the results of the erg challenge. Sydney won this and got first choice of lanes. After a few hundred metres the crews pass the buoys that define the start area and can move to either side of the river. Waikato and Sydney both started well but it was Waikato that eventually prevailed in the race for the bank and the preferred sheltered position. Sydney eventually had to make the decision to tuck in behind Waikato but cox Toby Lister impressed on his crew the need to stay close to Waikato and to be ready when and opportunity opened up. The crews crossed from the left to right bank after about one kilometre of the race with Sydney still close behind Waikato and Queensland in third. Sydney shadowed Waikato till the crews reached the final bridge about 1200 metres from the finish.

At this point Waikato decided to move along the right bank but Sydney cox Toby Lister ( Olympic Eight 2012) thought there would be better sheltered water on the left bank made a dramatic river cross and called for maximum effort from the Sydney crew. Sydney began closing the gap on Waikato even as they were crossing in the main current. Waikato countered by moving across but too late – as the crews came together back on the left bank it was Sydney who had the lead and consolidated this to over two lengths with 500 meters to row. Sydney now had the advantageous position and as they were second through the last bridge was able to finish on the bank. However a mis-communication from the umpire’s boat meant that Sydney thought with 200 metres to go they had to move to the centre station and finish within the centre buoys. Fortunately Sydney had built up a good lead and was able to move into the stream and still hold on to a handy margin finishing 7 seconds clear of Waikato University with Queensland in third place.

Sydney became only the second foreign crew to win the Harry Mahon Trophy since the race’s inception.

Waikato crew captain Richard Harrison said during the prize-giving that he was surprised by Sydney’s tactic of rowing such a large distance in the main stream of the river and believes Sydney’s ability to hold on for so long was the difference in the end. He added, “Strategically Sydney rowed a superior race and their sheer strength really showed.”

Four returning 2012 Sydney Uni Olympians have travelled along with the rest of their senior eights rowing squads to Hamilton, New Zealand, to prepare for Sunday’s annual Gallagher Great Race and further fan the trans-Tasman rivalry on the mighty Waikato River.

Cox Toby Lister and rowers Nick Purnell, Sarah Cook and Sally Kehoe – all 2012 London Olympic finalists – will compete in the Sydney University men’s and women’s crews respectively, coached by Sydney University Boat Club's (SUBC) Mark Prater and Sydney University Women’s Rowing Club’s (SUWRC) Debbie Fox.

Sydney Uni’s men’s and women’s crews will take on Queensland University and the University of Waikato crews, as they battle it out on a 3.85km upstream course on the fast flowing Waikato River through central Hamilton. Waikato University, based in Hamilton, is the major development centre for New Zealand rowing.

The penultimate race of the festival pits the two women's crews racing for the Bryan Gould Cup, while the final race is between the two men’s crews who race for the coveted Harry Mahon Trophy.

Crews will be competing in a three boat race format introduced in 2011 as a tactical element that sets it apart from any other rowing event.

The trip over was made up of two flights – fourteen hours from Sydney to San Francisco, and five hours from there to Toronto. Aside from leaving us all with terrible jet lag, it gave us a lot of time to mull over what we were walking into. Eights racing in North America is close to a religion – they seem to hesitate over boating coxed fours for being too small and American and Canadian eights had dominated the World Championships and Olympics of the last decade. We knew very little about our accommodation at Ridley College or the equipment we’d be using from their boat club, still less about the courses we’d be racing on or the boats we’d be up against.

We arrived at Ridley (a co-ed boarding school in St Catharine’s, home of Canadian Henley) at two in the morning, and many of us struggled to find any real sleep that night. Nevertheless, training began the very next day, and we got to see the boat we’d be getting to know very well over the next three weeks. The George Abady II was an eight year old Hudson, which we were to crew with vintage, non adjustable oars. Coming from the SUBC shed, where the equipment is the very latest, it was clear that we were in for a challenge.

Almost immediately we were struck by a variety of misfortunes that are perhaps common in touring parties. Jack, our three seat, was hit by glandular fever and strep throat at the same time, and was unable to row from midway through the first week on. This meant that a few days before the first race, Ryan came into the crew, which forced a reshuffle of the bow four. At first it ran (from bow to four) myself, Ryan, Jonny and Pete, which was later changed to Jonny, Pete, myself and Ryan. To compound the disruption, we were told that because Will had coxed internationally in 2012 (at the Under 23 Championships in Trakai), we would not be able to enter the Under 23 or Senior Eight at Canadian Henley and our race at the Ontario Championships would be an exhibition and we wouldn’t technically be entered.

These disruptions did not provide the best platform for our first race – at the Ontario Championships. The race was a straight final with no chance to fine-tune or finalise our racing style. In short, the Canadians gave us a lesson in racing. Two boats from St Catharine’s Rowing Club shot out to the early lead, but it was not so much their speed in the opening quarter that impressed us – it was their ability to replicate that speed three more times over the course. That left us in a battle for third with a crew from Western Ontario. It was here that we learnt the most about how to really race. In a race that was already going to be a St Catharine’s 1-2, the crew from West Ontario would just not let us past, and we ended up finishing fourth. A culture of hard side-by-side racing meant that these crews would not capitulate as we had come to expect.

After the humbling experience at the Welland course, we were in for another disruption. While playing some Ultimate Frisbee, Ryan and Hamish collided, with Hamish limping away with a mid-foot sprain. This led to the inclusion of Dan, a Ridley College Graduates rower and Yale graduate, in the eight for a couple of training sessions, as well as a few interesting attempts at rowing in a seven.

This was the most difficult period of the trip for the whole group, and Australia’s early struggles at the Olympics did nothing to improve the mood of the crew. However, it was here that we made our best improvements, improvements that would put us in good stead for Henley. It was during those days that we got our first piece of really good news for the trip – Ali Coehoorn (nee Williams) was living in Canada with her husband and would be available at Henley to cox for SUBC once more. We had a coxswain for the senior eight and had Will raring to go in the Championship, but were nonetheless disqualified from the Under 23 eight.

A few more days of training and we were, by all appearances, ready to race. The emotions were running a little high in the heat of the Senior Eight, and the lack of a coherent plan hurt us badly. Ali hadn’t trained extensively with us, and was forced to dig into her vast experience coxing and coaching to get us on the same page on the fly. We scraped into the final, with the slowest time of the six boats.

In the wake of that race, we had what the media would call ‘a no-holds barred truth session,’ under the guidance of our Dutch Master where we each laid out what our goals were for the tour and how we should race in order to achieve them. Rick was keen that we develop our race planning much more fully as a crew and they we each have input and ownership of a plan that would take us through the entire course competing on every stroke for every place. The result was a much-improved race in the heat of the Championship eight. We qualified comfortably for the final, only four seconds back on the time of the early pacesetters from California Rowing Club.

We weren’t able to maintain the rage in the final of the Senior Eight, however. After putting down our best first 1000m of the tour, we couldn’t capitalise, and allowed three crews to cross the line in front of us. The disappointment was even more keenly felt because of how well we had raced for half the race. The race was won by a crew from California Rowing Club, which included an ex-Shore boy, Michael Bernerius.

As seemed to be the pattern with our races, the sub-standard performance in the final of the senior spurred us to redress the balance in the Championship. Racing a considerably higher calibre of oarsman, including some of the winners of the Grand Challenge at Royal Henley this year, we resolved to leave nothing in the tank. Coxed to perfection by Will, we exceeded the standard we had set for our first half in the Senior Final and then carried that standard through the rest of the race. Two of the best moments of the tour came in quick succession in that second thousand – first burying the California crew, some of whom were winners in the Grand, and then holding off a fast finishing crew from Mendota to finish second. The St Catharine’s crew that had beaten us at Ontario had been augmented by a member of the Under 23 Canadian team, and they were deserving winners.

Looking back, it is clear that the tour was not without its hardships, and certainly going in, I would not have envisaged having to battle so much to succeed. As we were told so many times by the elder statesmen of SUBC, however, it’s in those difficult situations that real friendships are made, and memorable careers are forged. Looking at the group that returned to Sydney on the 15th of August, I’m confident that many of them will look back on the tour to Canada as one of the most important milestones of their early careers.

The crew consists of seven members of the crew that won the national U23 eights title at Champion Lakes, WA in March this year. Replacing Sasha Belonogoff and Ryan Edwards are newcomers Peter Koster and Jack Hargreaves. Sasha and Ryan have just finished competing at the U23 Worlds in Lithuania where they won bronze in the hotly contested Quad Scull.

The crew will be coxed by Will Raven, Will has also been in Trakai, Lithuania coxing the Australian U23 Coxed four and will fly from Europe to meet the team in Canada.

Our senior coach Rick van Hooydonk will be coaching and managing the crew. The team will be staying at Ridley College which is about twenty minutes from Welland lakes ( the site of the Ontario Championships) and 15 minutes from St Catherine’s – the site of Canadian Henley.

The Canadian Henley regatta traces its beginnings back to 1880 and 2012 is the 130th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Racing will be from Tuesday 7th August to Sunday 12th August.

The SUBC crew leave full funded after a successful fundraiser lunch held on 7th July at Scots College Boatshed. The crew and the club would like to thank all those involved in making the function a great success. Particular thanks goes to the parents who arranged all the food, prizes, wine and beer, thanks to all who attended and to those who spent up on our main auction items. Also special thanks to The Scots College, and headmaster Dr Ian Lambert for the use of their boatshed. The team would also like to thank The Kings School and Rowing Master Tom Courtney for allowing the use of their Hudson Eight. The crew will be using a Hudson eight in Canada and welcomed the opportunity provided by Kings to train in the same type of boat before their departure.

The crew is : Tom McClintock, Jon Rundle, Peter Koster, Jack Hargreaves, Kit Cunningham-Reid, Hamish Playfair, Tom Sacre, Nick Wheatley and cox Will Raven. Ryan Barraclough is single sculler and reserve for the eight.