Australian Boat Race 2024: Strong Melbourne Teams Eye Revenge in Sydney

By Mrinal Asija; 22 October 2024

It’s Melbourne vs Sydney. It’s a clash of the two oldest Universities in the country. It carries a history of over 160 years.

If that does not make the Australian Boat Race (ABR) one of the most awaited events on the university sporting calendar, the regular presence of Olympians in the boat should do the trick for the sport buffs. For those with an eye for aesthetics, it’s the iconic locations that host the Race that make it a spectacle.

This year, Sydney’s Darling Harbour will provide that beautiful backdrop for ABR on Sunday 27 October. The day will see the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney’s Men’s and Women’s crews compete in the waters for the title of the prestigious competition. They will also be joined by teams from Ormond College and Trinity College, who will be representing Melbourne in the college races.

The rowing rivalry between the two Universities started with an unofficial race in 1860 on the Yarra River in Melbourne. It has become an annual competition since 2009, when the Race was revived, and an official record of the scores is now maintained for the eagerly contested event. The two cities take turns hosting the ABR every alternate year.

Sydney leads this tally 11-2 for the Edmund Barton Trophy, the silverware for the champions of the men’s race, named aptly after Australia’s first Prime Minister, who also represented the University of Sydney in the first official intervarsity race between Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Universities in 1870.

On the other hand, the Melbourne women hold a superior record of eight wins to five in the fight for the trophy named after the University’s first woman graduate, Bella Guerin.

However, the hosts will go into this year’s Race as the defending champions in both men’s and women’s competitions, and Melbourne will have their task cut out to win the two trophies back after falling short at home in 2023. But they will go to Sydney taking confidence from the presence of Olympians Ria Thompson and Hayley Verbunt in their squad.

Ria won a bronze medal in Women's Quadruple Sculls at Tokyo 2021 and also represented Australia at Paris 2024. She is a graduate of the Bachelor of Science and has represented the University at UniSport Nationals and in the 2018 Australian Boat Race. Hayley, a Bachelor of Commerce student, also took part in the Paris Olympics and is a bronze medallist in the World Championships.

Ria and Hayley will also have the support of other experienced rowers, such as current Jopling Family Rowing Scholarship recipients Romy Cantwell and Eliza Gaffney, who is also a senior national representative, and current John Hall Rowing Scholarship recipient Zara Lavery.

The men’s squad is also packed with a lot of talent, led by Bachelor of Biomedicine student Fraser Miscamble, a U23 World Championships silver medallist, and Bachelor of Design student and previous John Hall Rowing Scholarship recipient Felix Oliver.

The teams will fly to Sydney ahead of the race weekend, with the coin to take place on Friday 26 October at the University of Sydney. The race morning will begin with Ormond and Trinity teams representing Melbourne in the Women’s and Men’s College Race respectively against St Paul’s Sydney. The ABR Women’s and Men’s races will follow right after that.

Watch the races live on the Australian Boat Race website - australianboatrace.com