Rowing Australia (RA) is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for the sport of rowing in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Established in 1925, it is the only organisation recognised by the Federation Internationale des Societies d’Aviron (FISA), the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), and the

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

(AOC), to conduct rowing activities in, and on behalf of Australia.

History

RA was initially established on 1 May 1925 as the Australian Amateur Rowing Council. It was incorporated on 15 November 1982, changed its name to Australian Rowing Council Inc in 1984, changed its name to Rowing Australia Inc on 2 March 1996 and finally became a public company in January 2007 and so became Rowing Australia Ltd. Prior to 1925, the Interstate Championships and representation at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

were managed by the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Associations. A proposal to form the Australian Amateur Rowing Council failed at the 1909 inter-state conference, in favour of the continuation of the conference system. Regulations were brought into effect for the conduct of the Intercolonial and Interstate Championships well prior to the formation of RA. Whilst there were many debates over rules from the very first race, the first request for a conference came from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in February 1887, in order to discuss the possibility of sending a combined crew from all

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

to compete in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Members

Rowing Australia and its affiliates represent in excess of 15,000 active members ranging from young rowers at school through to those at universities and in the wider community right through to veterans rowing. Rowing Australia member associations operate in seven states with over 185 schools and 156 clubs offering rowing programs.

Competition

RA is responsible for selection of representative Australian teams for the Olympic Games,

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, World Under 23 Championships, Trans Tasman teams and Junior World Championships. Rowing Australia also organises four

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wat ...

s which are conducted in Australia at the national level: * Australian Rowing Championships *Australian Masters Rowing Championships Previous events include: *Youth Cup *Australian Youth Olympic Festival

References

External links

* {{Rowing (sport)

Sports governing bodies in Australia Rowing in Australia 1925 establishments in Australia Sports organizations established in 1925