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 Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's pre ...

. The King's Cup is the final event of the Australian Championships and the Interstate Regatta.

Early history

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 Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and the

Mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

clubs to boat crews for a race on the lower

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...

over about four miles. 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. Queensland and Tasmania first entered crews in 1885 and then Queensland raced regularly from 1890. From 1899 South Australia were racing annually. Following

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

the race became the interstate eight-oared championship with Tasmania and West Australia boating crews regularly by 1906.

The Trophy

Since 1921 the crews have competed for the King's Cup. The trophy had been won by a

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

crew at the Royal Peace Regatta held in London in 1919 following the cessation of hostilities at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was presented to the victorious eight-oared boat by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

. In time, and in spite of dogged resistance from the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

, 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 Sydney Rowing Club is the oldest rowing club in New South Wales, Australia formed in 1870. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's Parramatta River at Abbotsford, New South Wales, Abbotsford Point since 1874. The club has a focus on it ...

, 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 (

, NSW).

High-achievers

* 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.McKay at Hall of Fame
/ref> *

Karsten Forsterling Karsten Forsterling (born 21 January 1980) is an Australian former representative rowing (sport), rower. He was a national champion, world champion, a dual Olympian and Olympic medal winner. He represented Australia at eight senior w ...

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 Fergus Pragnell (born 17 September 1985) is an Australian former rower. He is a seven-time Australian King's Cup winner, an U23 World Champion and a medallist at senior World Championships. State and club rowing From Queanbeyan, New South Wales ...

to six consecutive victories between 2008 and 2013. * Spencer Turrin of

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

References

{{Australian National Championships Rowing competitions in Australia