There are many “who want to suggest rowing is just another sport”, the King’s School headmaster, Tony George, once told an assembly, “if there ever was such a thing as ‘just a sport’ at Kings. But this is war. Against Shore, Joeys, Scots. May we be victorious.”
It comes after a tense Head of the River regatta in Sydney earlier this year, when a controversial win by King’s prompted appeals from The Scots College and Shore School, leading to a former supreme court judge and former Australian head coach being called in to adjudicate. To be competitive, the schools need equipment. They typically have at least a dozen single sculls, worth around $5000 each, a similar number of rowing ergs, at $1600 apiece, a few pair boats, at around $16,000, and an eight plus cox, with a price tag of at least $50,000.The schools invest heavily in coaching staff, too. King’s has four rowing coaches, including one-time Wallaby Julian Huxley, who is head coach and director of rowing, and Rob Black, a former national rowing champion.
The Head of the River Regatta in Sydney earlier this year, in which a controversial win by King’s School prompted appeals from The Scots College and Shore School.The judicial panel, which heard the appeal at St Ignatius on a Friday evening in April, included former supreme court judge and royal commissioner, Greg James QC and Noel Donaldson, who coached the “oarsome foursome” to two Olympic gold medals.
But the panel upheld the result, saying the coxswain had been reprimanded but Shore “continued to row without impediment” and James “saw no basis for the imposition of any further sanction on either the coxswain or the crew,” the minutes said.
JordsBaker when you employ someone to write about education issues, avoid the private school old boy network. It just reminds people how utterly out of touch your newspaper is. Stop indulging the private system - it represents injustice, not merit.
JordsBaker Sports rorts gave this lot millions
JordsBaker Class war?
JordsBaker Find out if the Kings crew was instructed to race that way. Were they going to Henley if they didn't win the head of the river? Who was on the original panel that looked at the protest?
JordsBaker Several more good reasons for removing the government funding of ‘elite private schools’.
JordsBaker Schools with too much money no doubt…