The Road Autumn 2021

2020/2021 ROWING SEASON REVIEW
DAMASCUS COLLEGE
The 2021 rowing season was a fantastic success for Damascus
College. We saw our recruitment jump from 45 to 73, we added
two brand-new Sykes racing boats to our fleet, we returned to
racing in the open division one event at Head of the Lake, and we
performed better than the previous season across the whole season!
Damascus College Rowing 2021 comprised of:
• Four junior girls crews
• Two junior boys crews
• Three intermediate girls crews
• Two intermediate boys crews
• One intermediate boys double scull
• Two senior girls crews
• One senior boys crew
• One senior single sculler
• Six junior coaches
• Five intermediate coaches
• Three senior coaches
After completing our pre-season training in lockdown of Term 3
2020, the rowing squad took to the water with great enthusiasm,
excited to be back out on Lake Wendouree doing what we love!
Damascus competed in several pre-season regattas before taking
a break over the summer holidays, the highlight being the inaugural
Ballarat Omnium, where crews raced various distances as they
completed a lap of the lake.
The seniors travelled to Nagambie for their training camp while
the junior and intermediate squads stayed in Ballarat. Both
training camps were a success, with all crews coming out of
training camp and performing well at regattas. A big thank you to
Shaun O’Loughlin for organising the bowls day for the junior and
intermediate crews.
Of particular note is Angus Shillito, who won the Schoolboy Single
Scull event at both the Wendouree-Ballarat Regatta and the
Nagambie Regatta.
This year’s Head of the Lake saw the first-ever inclusion of sculling
in our regatta. The junior squad competed in quad sculls, and a
single- and double-scull combined event was included for seniors.
All Damascus College crews performed well and executed their
skills flawlessly. We had 73 students compete, compared to the 45
who competed at the previous event – a fantastic achievement for
our recruitment and retention programs.
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