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Second place ribbon for the YWCA Regatta maiden fours event
Second place ribbon for the YWCA Regatta maiden fours event

Second place ribbon for the YWCA Regatta maiden fours event

Date12 October 1929
Object number00042435
NameRibbon
MediumSilk, ink
Dimensions460 x 50 mm
ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Trixie Whaling Estate
DescriptionThe ribbon is of pale blue silk and features a pair of crossed oars at the top. Beneath this is hand painted gold text reading: 'Maiden Fours / 2nd / T. Forrest / YWCA Regatta / 1929'.HistoryThis second place ribbon was awarded to Trixie Forrest (or Forest) when she represented the Young Women's Christian Association in the maiden fours event during the first annual YWCA Regatta at Iron Cove, Sydney. Trixie rowed as stroke in a team that included E. Collins (bow), E. Bull and H. Kennedy and the race was won by the Sydney Ladies Club team. 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.