The Head of the River rowing regatta is an annual rowing event held on the Champion Lakes in Western Australia. There are two separate events; a boys regatta (held in Summer/Autumn), and a girls regatta (held in Winter).
The boys regatta is run by the Public Schools Association of Western Australia, which has seven member schools; Aquinas College, Christ Church Grammar School, Guildford Grammar School, Hale School, Scotch College, Trinity College, and Wesley College. The race is held over 2000m and is the last official race of the PSA rowing season. From its origins in 1899[1] to 1938 the race was run in fours, but since 1938 it has been run in eights. There are two trophies awarded; The challenge cup, which is awarded to the school who wins the First Eight race and the Hamer Cup which is awarded to the overall winner of the day on points.
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The Perth race held in late summer/early autumn is contested between the seven Public Schools Association boys schools: Aquinas College, Christ Church Grammar School, Guildford Grammar School, Hale School, Scotch College, Trinity College, and Wesley College. In the winter several private Perth girls schools race for the title.
The regatta consists of many races with points contributing to the Hamer Cup, and in the final race of the day, the 1st VIII crews from each school compete for the Head of the River trophy. The race was run on the Canning River, near Western Australian Institute of Sport's rowing shed at Canning Bridge, but since 2009 it has been held at Champion Lakes in Kelmscott.[2]
Rowing was one of the five original PSA Sports. Schools involved in the PSA Rowing compete for three trophies; The Challenge Cup, C.A. Hamer Cup and the Syme Cup.
On the final day of the rowing season, all PSA Schools attend the head of the river rowing regatta, the first VIII crew's from all of the schools compete for the Head Of The River title. The Challenge Cup pre-dates the formation of the PSA, having been presented 6 times by 1905. Until 1937 the Head of the River Race had been rowed in Fours, from 1938 it has been rowed in Eights.
Records have tumbled since the venue change with a new record being set in 2009 then again in 2010. The current record time for the 2000m event is 5 minutes 42.8 seconds.[3]