Flashback Friday: SRRC 1912 Annual Report
Published Fri 14 Jul 2023
Swan River Rowing Club's 1912-1913 Annual Report
In this new section we'll share cool bits of history from our community! If you have an archive room, box of old annual reports, photos laying around in the back of your shed - please get in touch, we would love to dust them off and re-live past moments!
1913 - The Year for "POSSESSION OF THE PENNANT" for Swans!
Boats and Gear: Honorary Secretary W. G. Hastings' Report on behalf of the SRRC Committee contained some advice that no doubt clubs are still giving to their rowers...
Schools Regatta: The Christians (now Aquinas College), the High School (now Hale School), and the Guildfords all trained out of SRRC in 1912. A new-fangled eight-oared event was on the cards for the schoolboys this year...
Ladies' Committee: 'Women in Rowing' was limited to the 'Ladies' Committee' (although women have been rowing in WA to various extents since the late 1800s). Mrs. Lapsley, Mrs. MacQueen, Mrs. Connell & Miss Trenaman organised Social Events, entertained guests, and managed to net £16 (equivalent to about $2,500 in today's money) for the club!
Social: By far the longest section is the 'Social' report. December 1912's 'Debt Extinction Night' sounds like it was a legendary night... after everyone finished chanting "The Debt is dead!!" and singing the "Dead March", and there was a "stilly silence" in the room, everyone stood to their feet "while the Chairman solemnly bourne to ashes the Bond that had for so long kept the Club a liquidating debtor... and many an Executive officer, past and present, felt proud and glad for the complete fulfilment of a heavy trust".
Finally, to round things up Mr. Hastings concludes with the following:
What a way to round out an annual report! Maybe in 2023, the 110 year anniversary of Hastings' 'Possession of the Pennant' year, Swans will take back the pennant from last year's winners WARC...?
Thanks Simone Burge for allowing access to the SRRC archive room/attic!!
