Rowing Clubs in Australia: State-by-State Guide

This guide is for adults, students and families looking for a rowing club in Australia, and for rowers relocating from overseas. Rowing here is organised state by state and tied closely to schools. Victoria alone has 97 affiliated clubs and schools and more than 7,600 members, and Melbourne University Boat Club dates back to 1859.

How Australian rowing is organised

Rowing Australia has seven member associations: ACT, NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Clubs and schools affiliate to their state body, which runs or coordinates regattas and supports coach development. Rowing NSW, for example, has more than 35 clubs and sets the annual regatta calendar and racing rules.

That means your state association’s site is more useful than the national one for finding local racing. Rowing Tasmania lists 13 clubs with website links, from Hobart to Launceston and Devonport. To compare this with a European system, see our guide to how rowing clubs work in Germany.

The clubs

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Sydney Rowing Club	1870	Abbotsford, Sydney, NSW	juniors, competitive, learn-to-row	sydneyrowingclub.com.au
Leichhardt Rowing Club	1886	Iron Cove, Sydney, NSW	juniors, masters, competitive	lrc.com.au
Drummoyne Rowing Club	1919	Sisters Bay, Iron Cove, Sydney, NSW	masters, competitive, learn-to-row	drummoynerowers.com.au
Mosman Rowing Club	1911	The Spit, Middle Harbour, Sydney, NSW	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	mosmanrowing.com.au
Melbourne University Boat Club	1859	Melbourne, VIC	university, competitive	mubc.asn.au
Mercantile Rowing Club	1880	Melbourne, VIC	juniors, masters, competitive	mercantile.org.au
Banks Rowing Club	1866	Melbourne, VIC, Yarra River	competitive, masters	banksrowing.com
Adelaide Rowing Club	1882	Adelaide, SA, River Torrens	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	adelaiderowingclub.com.au
Torrens Rowing Club	n/a	Adelaide, SA, Torrens Lake	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	torrensrowingclub.com.au
Commercial Rowing Club	1877	West End, Brisbane, QLD	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	revolutionise.com.au
Swan River Rowing Club	1885	Mount Pleasant, Perth, WA, Swan and Canning Rivers	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	srrc.org.au
Tamar Rowing Club	n/a	Launceston, TAS, Tamar River	competitive, recreational	tamarrowingclub.org.au
Buckingham Rowing Club	n/a	Hobart, TAS	masters, competitive, learn-to-row	buckinghamrowingclub.com.au

Regattas and the season

The headline event is the Australian Rowing Championships. The 2027 edition is at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre in Perth from 15 to 22 March, with entries open from 4 January to 1 March. At the opening ceremony, the winning states and territories return the King’s and Queen’s Cups from the 2026 regatta.

Rowing Australia also runs national masters, beach sprint and indoor championships, and lists domestic regattas on RowingManager.

As a rule of thumb, the main season runs through the Australian summer towards the March championships, and school crews peak in the same stretch. Winter is for long, steady work. Adelaide’s Year 8 to 11 Winter Programme and Buckingham’s winter opens programme show that clubs do keep going off-season. For a different southern hemisphere calendar, see the regattas in our guide to rowing clubs in Brazil.

Joining as a beginner or visitor

Programmes differ by club. Adelaide offers Learn to Row, Social Rowing and competitive squads. Torrens runs beginner training with accredited coaches several times a year. Commercial in Brisbane runs a dedicated beginners’ programme, and Swan River in Perth adds school holiday camps.

Buckingham in Hobart is a useful example of what to expect: its November to December 2026 learn-to-row is six sessions for $250, plus Rowing Tasmania registration. Separate state registration is worth budgeting for. In Victoria, clubs take your details for your learn-to-row so you’re covered by Rowing Victoria insurance.

Experienced rowers moving to Australia have clear routes as well. Banks says it caters for athletes leaving school, returning to rowing or joining from another club, and Melbourne University Boat Club’s membership is open to all, not only students.

How to pick a club in Australia

• Match the club to your age group. Drummoyne’s Opens squad is for 18 to 30-year-olds with experience, and its Masters squad starts at 27. Sydney Rowing Club’s site focuses on under-18 and senior programmes and doesn’t mention masters.
• Compare Sydney’s waters. Leichhardt and Drummoyne are both on sheltered Iron Cove, and Mosman is on Middle Harbour at The Spit.
• Look at the Melbourne boathouses. Banks and Melbourne University are neighbours on Boathouse Drive, so it’s easy to look at both.
• Check who shares the shed. Leichhardt shares with Pymble Ladies’ College. As a rule, a shared shed can affect when club boats are free in school term.
• Adelaide has two bases. Adelaide Rowing Club overlooks Elder Park in the CBD and also uses the Rowing SA complex at West Lakes, so ask where your squad trains.
• Para and adaptive rowers. Drummoyne runs DRC Para, and Torrens offers adaptive coaching, which it describes as the first of its kind in South Australia.
• Expect early starts. As a rule of thumb, most on-water sessions are at dawn or early evening to avoid the heat and the wind.

If you’re starting from scratch, read rowing for beginners and the reasons to join a club. There’s also our New Zealand guide and all club guides.

Know a club we’ve missed, or found a mistake? Tell us.