LOOKING BACK, RATING HIGH:
A HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN ROWING

Volume 1

From Early Settlement to pre-War Success 1770–1939

Robin Poke AM

with a Foreword by
John Coates AC
past President Rowing Australia

ENDORSEMENT BY JOHN COATES

Approx. 240 pages • Foreword• 80 illustrations • • Notes • Bibliography • Index
Publication date: 24 June 2019

Subscriber limited edition of 100 copies, individually signed and numbered and with subscribers listed in the book. (To secure a copy, subscribers will have to register and pay for the book by 1 June 2019.) $100
ISBN: 978-1-876718-30-5

Paperback and epublication $50
ISBN: 978-1-876718-31-2

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OVERVIEW

The first volume of this history of Australian rowing chapters describes the initial, primitive forms of rowing in the country and the gradual evolution of the sport. From the 1870s, Australia produced a succession of world champion professional rowers which placed the sport high on the national pedestal. The rise of amateur rowing created tensions within the sport and there were endless discussions about the issues of class and money in the sport. Meanwhile, many clubs were formed, colonial administrations emerged, and by the turn of the century, women became prominent in rowing. Following the Great War an Australian Imperial Force crew competed at England’s Henley and obtained the King’s Cup. Bobby Pearce was an outstanding amateur rower who won Olympic gold medals in 1928 and 1932 but then chose to live in Canada. Pearce, who turned professional in 1933, was never beaten. Australia achieved considerable success at the third British Empire Games in Sydney in 1938 winning gold in the sculls and fours, and silver in the eights. Eight Sydney oarsmen competed at the Henley Royal Centenary Regatta in July 1939, two months before the start of the Second World War.

A second volume, covering the period 1939 to 2018 will be published in 2020.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Robin Poke AM is a Canberra-based sports historian and journalist. He previously published the widely acclaimed biography, Peter Antonie: Out of his Shell, in 2007. He has had a long-time involvement in Australian rowing as oarsman and administrator. He founded the national magazine, Australian Rowing, and was media liaison office with the Australian team at the Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2013 ‘For significant service to the sport of rowing and the Olympic movement as an administrator, journalist and author’.