YWCA rowing crew and club members compiled by Trixie Forest

Date1927

Object number00042425

NamePhotograph album

MediumSilver gelatin, paper, ink, cord

Dimensions245 x 320 x 15 mm

ClassificationsBooks and journals

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Trixie Whaling Estate

Terms

DescriptionThis photograph album of rower Trixie Forest contains 18 black and white images of fellow YWCA rowing crew and club members. Its inside cover bears an inscription stating it was given as a birthday gift from Jean.HistoryThis photograph album includes photographs of members of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) rowing team in the water, outside the boat sheds, handling the 18-footer HC PRESS and launching the vessel. It also includes photographs of the Sydney Girls' Rowing Club at the Pittwater Regatta. Trixie Forest was a competitive rower, cyclist and tennis player in the 1930s. Women'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 photograph album is significant in documenting women's rowing during the 1920s.