THE HISTORY OF NAGAMBIE ROWING CLUB
FOUNDING AND EARLY YEARS
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​The Nagambie Rowing Club was established in 1891, shortly after the construction of the Goulburn Weir created Lake Nagambie. The weir, built between 1887 and early 1891, was the first major diversion structure for irrigation development in Australia and provided an ideal location for rowing. The Weir later appeared on Australia’s first bank note.
Nagambie Rowing Club’s formation coincided with a period of growing interest in rowing across Victoria. In its early years, the club quickly became an integral part of the Nagambie community, hosting its first regatta in 1893 under President, John Gordon (MLA).
GROWTH AND SUCCESS
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Over the years, Nagambie Rowing Club has produced many successful rowers and made significant contributions to rowing in Victoria and Australia.
In 1905 Wally Heath rowed in a winning Australian champion eight (King’s Cup), he and Frank Catlin were also Victorian Pair Oared winners. Wally Heath remains the only Nagambie Rowing Club rower to have won a King’s Cup.
In 1920 Val Sullivan also rowed in the Victorian Kings Cup Crew.
In 1908 Nagambie won the senior eight, senior four and senior pair at the Henley Regatta in Melbourne. The Newspapers estimated a crowd of 300,000 lined the 3mile course to spectate.
In 1909 Nagambie Rowing Clubs’s Wally Heath, Frank Catlin, CW Welsh and Tom Vickers (coxed by Alex Carter) broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest 3 miles rowed in history (13 mins, 2.4 seconds)
The Club had many successes winning the Victorian elite Premiership in 1919, 1934 and 1935, and in these seasons had members in the Victorian Interstate Eight (Kings Cup Crew).
In 1934 Nagambie won the Victorian Eight Oared Championship by 8 boat lengths, six of this crew rowed in the Victorian Kings Cup Crew, plus the Coach Martin Sinnett and Cox. The Club also won the State Four Oared title by 12 boat lengths in the same year.
In 1935 Nagambie won the Victorian Four and Pair oared titles and three members rowed in the 1935 Victorian Kings Cup Crew, the four again won by over 10 boat lengths.
One of the Club's most notable members was Alf Lodding, who became a Victorian representative oarsman and later an Olympic coach. He represented Victoria in two King’s Cup races. He was in the crew of 2 x Champion fours in Victoria – winning by 10 lengths both times. He won numerous other races and was described as the best ‘stylish’ rower in Victoria, by the Melbourne Newspapers. His legacy helped establish Nagambie as a hub for rowing excellence.
​​In 1964, the club achieved a major milestone when local rowers Neil Lodding, Bruce Richardson, and cox Wayne Gammon were selected as the Australian Olympic coxed pair. This achievement put Nagambie on the map in the rowing world and inspired future generations of rowers.
​Patrick McNamara was a strong rower through the late 1960s and 1970s, racing for both Mercantile and Nagambie Rowing Clubs during this time. His achievements include competing at the Queensland National Championships in 1972 (finishing second in the Australian Junior Single Scull), winning several sprint titles and beating Jeff Sykes in the heat of the Dimboola Regatta in 1973. He went on to defeat David Ramage in the final. Pat was the only person to defeat Jeff Sykes in the 1973 season (in which Jeff won the President’s Cup and represented Australia at the Worls Championships). In 1997 (aged 50) Pat beat Mike McKay (1992 & 1996 Olympic Gold Medallist) in the Moomba Sprint.
In the early 2000s Will and Tim Day had great success as Lightweight rowers, winning state titles and finishing second in the trials for the FISA World Cup in Sydney in 2013. They went on to represent Australia.
In 2019 Michael McNamara won two Australian Championships as a lightweight rower, and second in the Australian Lightweight Single. He also held the Australian record on the Concept 2 Ergo. He had a VIS scholarship and was selected to train in a National Crew at the NTC in Canberra. In 2016 Mick won the FISA lightweight four in St Catherines, Canada.
THE BUCKLEY PARK BOAT HOUSE
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The original Boat House at Buckley Park was constructed in the early 1900s by Mr McNeill for under 800 pounds. In 1916 all but the top two inches of this Boat House were submerged in one of Nagambie’s worst known floods to date.
In 1930 Mr G Buckley donated the 4.75 acre "Buckley Park" to Trustees representing the Nagambie Rowing Club, and wished the Park to be used for Rowing and Swimming. In 1932, Mr Thos Blayney gifted a further 4 acres of land (on the other side of the creek) to the Club. The Club later agreed to gift the entire parcel of land back to the local Council.
In 1945 Sam Gugger converted the riggers on all the Nagambie Rowing Club boats from gig rigger to swivel, and in 1950 he placed 2 large doors on the front of the Boat House.
In 1976 another devastating flood threatened the Boat House. Neil Lodding and Pat McNamara removed the boats from the shed as the waters rose, to minimise the losses.
In 1978 the Club rebuilt the Boat House and created a Clubrooms upstairs with mainly voluntary labour during construction, and a ladies committee helped the fit out upstairs. A bank loan (raised with personal guarantees from club members, Neil + Jeff Lodding, Patrick McNamara, Sgt. Bill Hager and Lawrie Melbourne) enabled this rebuild.
THE MODERN ERA
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In 1995 Nagambie Rowing Club purchased the ‘Valley Hotel’. Patrick McNamara was instrumental in the negotiations for the purchase of the hotel, and for securing significant funding from a major brewer that enabled the purchase. Since relocating operations from the Buckley Park Boat House, the club’s commercial aspect has gone from strength to strength, enabling further development and renovations at both venues.
In 1996 Patrick McNamara asked Justice Frederico, President of Rowing Victoria, to support an application to construct a 2,000 metre Olympic Rowing Course. The CEO of Rowing Australia, David Schier, was recruited to Project Manage the construction. The final budget was $3 million. A third was contributed by Strathbogie Commissioners, a third by the Dept Arts, Sport and Tourism (led by Minister Hon. P McNamara) and a third by the Nagambie Rowing Club and its corporate partners (incl Tattersalls). Victoria successfully bid to host the Australian National Rowing Championships and Interstate Regatta in 1998 on Lake Nagambie.
In 2000 Patrick McNamara was elected President of Rowing Australia, stepping down in 2009. National Rowing Championships were rotated between the only three courses that meet National standards, Nagambie, Lake Barrington (Tas) and Penrith Sydney Olympic Course. Nagambie hosted the event as recently as 2022.
In 2001 the Associated Public Schools transferred their Heads of the River Regatta from Geelong to Nagambie. This Regatta has attracted up to 17,000 spectators, the largest crowd to a sporting event outside of Melbourne or Geelong.