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King's Cup (rowing)

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Australian King's Cup
Location Penrith Lakes, Australia
Organiser Rowing Australia
Years Active 1878 - current
Course Venue of the Australian Rowing Championships
Course length 2,000m
Events Final event of the
Annual Interstate Regatta
Trophy King's Cup since 1921
Course image
The bridge at the SIRC

The King's Cup is Australia's blue riband annual rowing race for men. Since 1878 it has been contested by state representative senior heavyweight men's eights at the annual Australian Interstate Regatta. Since 1973 the Australian Interstate Regatta has been conducted on the final day of the week-long annual Australian Rowing Championships. The King's Cup is the final event of the Australian Championships and the Interstate Regatta.

Early history

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Victoria and New South Wales commenced inter-colonial racing in eight-oared boats in 1878 when the Victorian Rowing Association invited New South Wales oarsmen from the Sydney and the Mercantile clubs to boat crews for a race on the lower Yarra River over about four miles.[1] Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania all showed an interest in entering crews from the mid-1880s but disagreements over definitions of amateur status resulted in inconsistencies in eligibility criteria in the early decades. New South Wales held firm to a view that not just professional sportsmen and those employed around boats would be deemed non-amateurs but also all manual labourers. The other states had relaxed this view by 1899.[2] Queensland and Tasmania first entered crews in 1885 and then Queensland raced regularly from 1890.[3] From 1899 South Australia were racing annually. Following Federation the race became the interstate eight-oared championship with Tasmania and West Australia boating crews regularly by 1906.

The Trophy

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AIF #1 VIII 1919 Henley Peace Regatta : (rear) Disher, Mettam, Hauenstein, Lt. Gen Hobbs, Middleton, Scott, McGill, (front) Robb, Smedley, House.

Since 1921 the crews have competed for the King's Cup. The trophy had been won by a First Australian Imperial Force crew at the Royal Peace Regatta held in London in 1919 following the cessation of hostilities at the end of World War I and was presented to the victorious eight-oared boat by King George V. In time, and in spite of dogged resistance from the Australian War Memorial, the Victorian Rowing Association petitioned the King to express his intention for the Cup, and at his command it became the perennial trophy to be presented to the winning state representative men's eight at the annual Australian Rowing Championships.

The AIF #1 crew, all former club oarsmen who secured the King's Cup for Australia were seated as follows: Bow - Sgt. Archie A Robb (Derwent Rowing Club, Tasmania); 2 - Lieut. Fred A House (Derwent Rowing Club, Tasmania); 3 - Lieut. Thomas McGill (Leichhardt Rowing Club, NSW); 4 - Gnnr. Arthur Scott (Murray Bridge Rowing Club, SA); 5 - Lieut. Henry Hauenstein (Leichhardt Rowing Club, NSW); 6 - Maj. Sydney Middleton (Sydney Rowing Club, NSW); 7 - Gnnr. George William Mettam (West Aust Rowing Club), WA; Str - Capt. Harold Clive Disher (Melb Uni Boat Club, Vic ); Cox - Sgt. Albert Smedley (Sydney Rowing Club, NSW).

High-achievers

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  • James Tomkins rowed in Victorian King's Cup VIIIs on eighteen occasions between 1985 & 2008 for fifteen victories and three 2nd places.
  • Mike McKay rowed sixteen times for Victoria in the King's Cup for thirteen wins and two seconds.[4]
  • Karsten Forsterling contested the King's Cup in Victorian VIIIs on twelve occasions in the fifteen year period from 2001 to 2015. He was in the winning crew on six occasions and placed 2nd six times.
  • James Chapman contested the King's Cup in NSW VIIIs on twelve occasions in the thirteen years from 2003 to 2015. He was victorious on seven occasions. He rowed in crews with Samuel Loch, Matt Ryan and Fergus Pragnell to six consecutive victories between 2008 and 2013.
  • Spencer Turrin of Sydney Rowing Club raced for NSW in ten consecutive King's Cups between 2013 and 2023 for seven victories.
  • Josh Hicks raced for WA in nine consecutive King's Cups between 2014 and 2023, five times as stroke.
  • David Anderson of the Leichhardt Club rowed in eight consecutive New South Wales King's Cup VIIIs from 1950 to 1957 for two victories.
  • Phil Cayzer stroked the New South Wales King's Cup VIII on five occasions from 1948 to 1954, winning the championship in 1949, 1950 and 1951.
  • Alan Grover coxed the New South Wales King's Cup VIII five times consecutively from 1962 to 1969 and then in 1980 for a sixth time.
  • Michael Morgan rowed in New South Wales King's Cup VIIIs for six consecutive years from 1968 to 1973, winning the title in 1968 and 1972.

Winners

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Chapman, Loch, Ryan & Pragnell on their sixth successive win in 2013.
Results
Year Winner 2nd 3rd
1878 Victoria New South Wales
1879 New South Wales Victoria
1880 Victoria New South Wales
1881 Victoria New South Wales
1882 New South Wales Victoria
1883 Victoria New South Wales
1884 Victoria New South Wales
1885 New South Wales Victoria Tasmania
1886 Victoria New South Wales
1887 Victoria New South Wales
1888 i Victoria New South Wales
1888 ii Victoria New South Wales
1889 Victoria New South Wales
1890 Victoria Queensland New South Wales
1891 Queensland New South Wales Victoria
1892 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1893 New South Wales Victoria Queensland
1894 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1895 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1896 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1897 Victoria Western Australia Queensland
1898 Victoria Queensland
1899 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
1900 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1901 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
1902 Victoria South Australia Queensland
1903 Victoria Queensland South Australia
1904 Victoria South Australia Queensland
1905 Victoria Tasmania New South Wales
1906 Tasmania Victoria New South Wales
1907 Victoria Tasmania Queensland
1908 New South Wales Victoria Tasmania
1909 Tasmania Victoria New South Wales
1910 New South Wales Victoria Tasmania
1911 New South Wales Victoria Tasmania
1912 Victoria Tasmania South Australia
1913 South Australia Tasmania Western Australia
1914 Tasmania South Australia Western Australia
1920 South Australia Western Australia Tasmania
1921 Western Australia Tasmania Victoria
1922 South Australia Victoria Western Australia
1923 South Australia Western Australia Victoria
1924 Queensland New South Wales South Australia
1925 Western Australia Tasmania New South Wales
1926 Tasmania South Australia Victoria
1927 Western Australia New South Wales Victoria
1928 Western Australia Queensland Tasmania
1929 New South Wales Western Australia Victoria
1930 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1932 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1933 New South Wales Queensland Victoria
1934 New South Wales Western Australia Queensland
1935 New South Wales Western Australia South Australia
1936 New South Wales South Australia Western Australia
1937 South Australia New South Wales Western Australia
1938 Western Australia New South Wales Tasmania
1939 Queensland New South Wales South Australia
1946 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1947 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1948 New South Wales Western Australia South Australia
1949 New South Wales Western Australia Victoria
1950 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
1951 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
1952 Victoria New South Wales Tasmania
1953 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1954 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1955 Western Australia Victoria New South Wales
1956 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1957 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1958 Victoria Western Australia New South Wales
1959 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
1960 Western Australia New South Wales Victoria
1961 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1962 Victoria Western Australia Tasmania
1963 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1964 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1965 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
1966 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
1967 New South Wales Tasmania South Australia
1968 New South Wales Victoria Tasmania
1969 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
1970 Victoria South Australia Tasmania
1971 Victoria South Australia New South Wales
1972 New South Wales Western Australia Victoria
1973 Western Australia Victoria South Australia
1974 New South Wales South Australia Western Australia
1975 New South Wales South Australia Victoria
1976 New South Wales Victoria South Australia
1977 New South Wales South Australia Victoria
1978 New South Wales Victoria Tasmania
1979 Victoria South Australia New South Wales
1980 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
1981 South Australia Victoria Queensland
1982 South Australia Tasmania Victoria
1983 South Australia Victoria New South Wales
1984 New South Wales South Australia Victoria
1985 Victoria South Australia New South Wales
1986 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
1987 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1988 Victoria South Australia New South Wales
1989 Victoria Western Australia
1990 Victoria Western Australia Queensland
1991 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1992 Victoria Western Australia South Australia
1993 Victoria Western Australia Queensland
1994 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1995 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1996 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
1997 Aust Capital Territory New South Wales Victoria
1998 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
1999 Western Australia Victoria Queensland
2000 Victoria Austn Capital Territory New South Wales
2001 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
2002 Victoria Western Australia New South Wales
2003 Victoria Western Australia New South Wales
2004 New South Wales Victoria Queensland
2005 Western Australia Victoria Queensland
2006 Victoria Western Australia New South Wales
2007 Victoria New South Wales Western Australia
2008 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
2009 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
2010 New South Wales Victoria South Australia
2011 New South Wales Victoria South Australia
2012 New South Wales Victoria South Australia
2013 New South Wales Victoria South Australia
2014 New South Wales South Australia Victoria
2015 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
2016 Victoria New South Wales South Australia
2017 New South Wales Victoria South Australia
2018 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
2019 New South Wales Victoria South Australia
2020 - Did not race -
2021 Victoria New South Wales Queensland
2022 New South Wales Victoria Western Australia
2023 New South Wales Victoria Queensland

References

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  1. ^ "2002 Zurich Nationals Rowing Championships". Rowingaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  2. ^ Intercolonial history at Guerin Foster
  3. ^ Intercolonial racing at Guerin Foster
  4. ^ McKay at Hall of Fame
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