Skip to main content
Advanced Search
YWCA Rowing Club Combination Race
YWCA Rowing Club Combination Race

YWCA Rowing Club Combination Race

Maker
Date1930s
Object number00042427
NamePennant
MediumFelt, ink
Dimensions290 x 760 x 3 mm
ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Trixie Whaling Estate
DescriptionThis navy blue felt pennant features light blue text that reads: 'YWCA Rowing Club / Combination Race / T. Forrest stroke'. Black ribbon attached at the upper and lower edges allows the pennant to be hung.HistoryWomen's amateur rowing in New South Wales dates back to 1909 when Alice Bentley formed a women's swimming and rowing club at Rushcutters Bay. As conditions proved too rough for regular rowing the club moved to Kemp's boatshed at Abbottsford (now Sydney High School Boathouse) and the Western Suburbs Ladies Rowing Club was formed. By the 1920s the club was renamed Sydney Ladies Rowing Club, and then the Sydney Women's Rowing Club. This was the sole amateur women's rowing club in New South Wales until 1929 when the YWCA Rowing Club was formed followed by the Balmain and Abbotsford clubs. In 1920 an Interstate Women's race was contested in conjunction with the King's Cup and the Australian Women's Rowing Council was formed. The 1920s and 30s were big decades for women rowers as more women joined the workforce and women's team sports became popular. The 'lady rowers' of the early part of the century eventually emerged as popular women's teams in the 1920s and 30s. This period saw a boom in women's rowing through the formation of amateur associations, the successful staging of national sporting events and the increased coverage of women's sport in the national press. SignificanceThis pennant represents one of the types of awards given as prizes to winning crew members.