WA Defend Their Title at Golden Oar '26

Published Fri 06 Nov 2026

Western Australian rowers were among the standout performers at the 2026 Golden Oar, with WARC athletes Giorgia Patten and Alex Rossi helping claim the event’s biggest prize in a thrilling weekend of racing at Black Mountain Peninsula in Canberra.

Presented by Red Shed and Canberra Airport, the second edition of the Golden Oar expanded to three days and attracted 325 competitors, 130 volunteers and 25 food and rowing vendors, supported by 47 event sponsors.

With more than $200,000 in prize money on offer, the innovative event challenged crews across three very different distances: 1500m racing on Saturday, a 3km time trial on Sunday morning and fast-paced 450m finals on Sunday afternoon.

The headline result for WA came in the Open Mixed Quad Sculls, where the WARC Composite-NTC crew of Star Rose Miller, Giorgia Patten, Nick Blackman and Alex Rossi produced a superb finish to win the Golden Oar and the $50,000 first prize.

The crew had qualified sixth and last for the eliminators on combined results before progressing through Sunday's sprint racing.

In the A-final, WARC stopped the clock at 1:15.81, defeating the highly credentialled HAVK Mladost Composite featuring Tara Rigney, Laura Gourley and Croatian brothers Martin and Valent Sinković by 1.12 seconds.

For West Australian athletes, Patten and Rossi, the victory also marked a successful campaign to defend their title as the Golden Oar headed west for the second consecutive year.

WA athletes were also prominent in the Open Mixed Double Sculls, an event that paired leading Australian and international rowers.

Swan River Rowing Club's Johnson Daubney, racing with Lithuanian Olympic medallist Viktorija Senkutė, came within a fraction of taking the title. The pair finished the A-final in 1:16.40, just 0.19 seconds behind winners Isabella Scammell and Finn Hamill.

West Australian Rowing Club'sAlex Rossi also featured in the A-final alongside Simona Radiș, finishing fourth in 1:17.73.

Fremantle Rowing Clubs Sam Bredell took out the U19 mixed quad in an impressive time of 1:19.94, walking away with a winning prize of $10,000 to share amongst the crew.

The Golden Oar's combination of endurance, speed and sprint racing again provided a different test for competitors, with crews needing to perform across all three formats to remain in contention. The trip was well worth it for the athletes from WA, taking another Golden Oar victory, as well as strong performances from athletes representing West Australian Rowing Club, Swan River Rowing Club and Fremantle Rowing Club.

Photo credits to Brad Redfern and Michael Franz

WA Defend Their Title at Golden Oar '26

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