Welcome to ANA Rowing Club 2010

Goals

ANA’s goal is to be the premier rowing club in Western Australia (and then the world!). 

We aim to promote the sport of rowing in WA and to provide a safe and fun environment for people to learn how to row and then provide on-going support to improve their skills to whatever level they aspire to.

Location

ANA’s boatshed and clubrooms are located at the Hinds Reserve, Bayswater. It is just upstream of the Garrat Rd Bridge with access via Milne St. We share the Reserve with Perth College Rowing and with the WAIS kayaking program, plus the many locals who use the area for canoing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, walking, running, cycling, picnics and BBQs. The Hinds Reserve is a very busy but friendly place to be. 

ANA members can row upstream for at least 10km, past Guildford Grammar School, until the river becomes too narrow for easy navigation. This stretch of river is wide enough to row comfortably with several boats abreast, but narrow enough to provide shelter from winds and sun. Most of it is lined with native bushland and parks and we are usually surrounded by native birdlife (black swans, pelicans, cormorants, grebes, darters) and even the occasional dolphin.

We can also row downstream all the way to Fremantle (25km), or onto the Canning River all the way down to the Shelley Bridge (20km), although we normally stick to the part upstream of the Graham Farmer Freeway, with just the odd trip into Perth City. This stretch is wider, and consequently rougher, with more power boats. However, it is still almost always rowable and provides good wide straight sections for our elite and sub-elite crews to practice racing pieces.

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History

The club was formed in 1920 as part of the Australian Natives Association (ANA) Aquatic Club. A group of members from other clubs were fed up with ‘imported’ (British and European) rowers coming in and taking all the places in the top crews. They wanted to start their own club so affiliated with the ANA whose requirement for membership was that you were born in Australia.

The ANA was a friendly society formed in Melbourne in 1871, intended to promote “moral, social and intellectual improvement of its members” with no political or sectarian influences. The ANA was very influential in Australia from the 1880s to the 1970s. It played a very important role in the Federation of Australia and helped shape policy on defence (establishing an Australian rather than British defence force), transport (standardizing railway gauges across Australia), aboriginal welfare, decimal coinage, conservation of natural resources, housing, education and health (maternal and infant welfare). It initiated the campaign to promote Australian-made goods (“Buy Australian-made”) and develop Australian manufacturers, and was prominent in the establishment of Australia Day as a national celebration. The ANA merged with another friendly society in 1993 to form Australian Unity.

The rowing club was housed in the Aquatic Club headquarters, also the head office of the ANA in WA, just upstream of the West Australian Rowing Club near Barrack St in the city. The Aquatic Club also catered for swimming, sailing and social activities – a total of 130 members when construction of the headquarters was completed in 1922. The headquarters were said to be the finest aquatic club building in the Commonwealth (by the Club itself of course!).

The original rowers included several members of the WA Interstate Eight crew (now King’s Cup). The initial boat fleet consisted of 2 fours built for the club, and no oars (they had to be imported from England and were delayed in transit) but they still managed to win the Maiden Pair, Junior Pair, Maiden Four and Junior Four in their first year.

In 1923 the ANA Ladies Rowing Club was formed, prompting a revival in ladies’ rowing in WA. At this point, WA was the only state not represented in the ladies’ races at the National Championships, even when they were held in WA. 

Stan O’Brien (one of our life members) was the Aquatic Club President in 1930.

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The club won the Championship Pennant in the 1960-61 rowing season.

The Aquatic Club boatshed was destroyed by fire in 1961, destroying all boats, equipment and memorabilia.

The club relocated to Canning Bridge and begun to rebuild its boat fleet. Conditions at Canning were cramped, with no space to expand. However the rowers continued to compete successfully, winning several Championship Pennants until their final Pennant win in 1975.

In 1992, the club made the difficult decision to move to its present location in Bayswater. This was a very controversial and divisive issue, as many members lived close to the Canning location. The club lost most of its membership in the move so was forced to rebuild for the second time in 30 years, this time rebuilding a membership base instead of its boat fleet.

The move to Bayswater has proved to be a visionary decision. The club’s current location offers unparalleled water, space for massive expansion of the boat fleet and proximity to a population otherwise unexposed to rowing. It has also led to strong links with several schools who also row in the area.

If anyone who has any past memorabilia or information on our history, we would love to hear from you. Please contact the Committee.

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If you have not rowed before, we recommend you complete one of our Learn-to-Row options before joining the club.

If you have already done so, or have rowed previously, please follow the steps below to join the club.

Complete a Membership Application Form

Get two existing club members to sign your application form (or contact the Secretary if you don’t know two existing members)

Submit the form with at least 6 months membership fees (see summary below) via the correspondence box in the shed, by mail, or in person to the Secretary or Treasurer.

Your Application will be posted in the boatshed then reviewed at the next committee meeting for approval (it is very rare for applications to be rejected). You will then be notified that your membership has been accepted.

You must also complete a Shed Information and Equipment Care course. This course covers general boat safety, correct boat handling practices and also covers the Club’s Code of Conduct - in forms and docs. It takes 1 to 2 hours and is held at the boat shed, usually on a weekend morning. The Shed Information course is an essential part of club membership and all members must have completed it.

Contact the Secretary to find out when the next course is.

You are welcome to continue rowing prior to formal acceptance of your membership, and prior to completing the Shed Information course. However, you must be under the supervision of an experienced member. Once you are approved and you have completed the Shed Information course you will be given access to the boatshed so you can row whenever you want. 

Membership Fees – 2010

Our membership year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
Membership subs reduce to half for people joining after 1 October.

ANA Bank details for EFT
BSB 736-000
A/C No: 070182
Name of Account ANA Rowing Club - 109 St Georges Terrace Perth WA

We aim to provide rowing and coaching to all levels and aspirations: beginners,
recreational, club racers, elite racers and options for non-rowing members.

Coaching is available to everyone as part of being a member at ANA.

We also welcome visitors from other rowing clubs, particularly those visiting Perth from other parts of Australia or overseas. If you are visiting Perth and would like to fit a row into your holiday (or work!) schedule, please contact the Captain to arrange a suitable time and crew.

All visitors should have the permission of the Captain or Secretary to use club equipment so please make sure you contact one of us, even if you know other members at the club.

Beginner

We offer coaching sessions to new members who have learnt to row, either through one of our learn-to-row programs, or at other organizations. These sessions aim to increase the confidence and competence of new rowers so that they can get the most out of their experience on the water.

Times will generally be arranged to suit individuals, and are small groups only – often only two rowers and a coach, rowing alongside or in the boat with the beginners. After a rower is confident with their ability (the number of sessions required varies, but will usually be between 5 and 15) we aim to move rowers into one of our other coaching groups, depending on their goals.

Please contact our Learn-to-row officer for more information or to organize a session.

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Recreational

Recreational rowing is available to anyone who wishes to enjoy their rowing without getting involved in the racing side of things. Recreational members vary from beginners who have just completed a learn-to-row course to ex-elite members who now enjoy a more relaxed involvement in the sport.

We do not have formal session times or coaching arrangements for recreational rowers. However there are some specific times that crews can normally be found heading out for a row.

Wednesday, 6pm.

Sunday, 7am.

If you would like to get involved in one of these sessions, or find some people to row with at an alternate time, please contact our Captain.

Club Racing

The racing season in Western Australia runs from mid-April to late September. Long distance (“head”) races are generally held early in the season, followed by Pennant Regattas leading up to the State Championships in September.

The races are split into 5 grades (A, B, C, D and E) plus Masters (>27yrs) and SubJunior (<15yrs) categories so everyone can find a level suitable for them. You do not need lots of experience to race – it is something you learn as you go along. Racing is a great way to improve your rowing skills, learn to row a range of different boats, meet new people, improve your fitness and have a lot of fun.

We try to provide coaches for two sessions a week for around 5 different squads, based on their skill levels and ages. The coaches and squads will vary each season based on who is available and how many racing members we have in different grade and age categories. More details of our current coaching structure can be found on the Racing page of the Member section.

Being an active racing member requires a minimum level of commitment. If you are rowing in a crew you will be expected to come to a minimum of two, but usually three or four, training sessions per week. These are usually early in the morning.

Your squad may also do additional sessions such as weights or ergos (rowing machines) once or twice a week. Like most things, you will get out of it what you put in. If you are serious about racing and want to be in fast crews, you can choose to do additional training sessions. However, if you are just racing for fun (which a lot of people do), you can do a minimum number of rowing sessions and no additional training. It’s all up to you.

If you race you will also be expected to attend boat loading prior to each regatta you attend, and boat unloading after the regattas. You are also expected to help out with club fundraising events and maintenance sessions throughout the year.

If you are interested in racing with ANA, please check out the Racing page of the Membership section and contact the Captain.

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Elite Racing

ANA is serious about developing elite athletes from within the club. Whenever possible we attempt to form squads based at ANA to help athletes train for the National Championships. When we don’t have sufficient numbers to support coaching at ANA we will provide whatever assistance we can to secure coaching for our athletes at other clubs or venues.

The squads generally consist of junior (U17, U19) and Senior B (U23) athletes and train from October until the Nationals in March. These squads require a lot of commitment, training up to 12 times per week on the water or in the gym. A good performance at Nationals may lead to selection in an Australian team for World Championships or even the Olympics.

Athletes from other clubs are welcome to train with our squads for a fixed fee for the training period. Please contact the Captain if you would like to pursue this option.

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Non-Rowing Options

There are many options available for being involved in the sport of rowing, without actually doing any rowing.

ANA offers a social membership for people who wish to be part of the club but not row. There are many ways these people can get involved in club activities, from cooking the Sunday morning BBQ, equipment maintenance, helping out at club events, or even just coming down and attending club social functions. Below are some other non-rowing ways that you can be an integral part of the club.

Coxswains are the people who yell at and steer the large crew boats. Coxes are a vital part of a crew and are in short supply at ANA, like most places. If you’d like to be involved in rowing and even racing without doing the hard training, maybe you’d like to take up coxing? Most coxes are reasonably small (<65kg), as racing crews don’t like the cox to be the heaviest person in the boat! Recreational crews will often have larger coxswains.

Umpires and race officials are a necessary part of running regattas. While racing experience is preferred, most people can learn to be a race official. Taken seriously, this can lead you to umpiring at national and even international events. Or you can just do a couple of sessions a year to help the club out and have some fun.

Coaches are always in demand. If you have rowing experience but do not wish to row yourself, we are always looking for coaches and would welcome any assistance.

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Forms to download  

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