Todays SHP has been lodged from Aspach , Germany'
The "Riverview Rowing Club" was founded late in 1882 under the guiding hand of Father Thomas Gartlan, S.J. The Rowing Club held its first regatta on Sunday 20 June 1885. It was recorded in many of the daily newspapers of the time and hailed as "the first College Regatta in the Colony"
The Gold Cup, c.1893
In the 1890 Regatta, a race was instituted called "The Lane Cove Challenge Eights", which grew into the "Riverview Gold Cup Regatta", from which comes the name of the modern day Regatta. In 1892, the Regatta Committee invited the residents of Lane Cove, and others interested in rowing to subscribe to a fund to acquire a suitable Gold Cup, as a trophy for this race. The result is the Riverview Gold Cup, as we have it today. In 1893, the St. Ignatius' Regatta, featured its valuable Gold Cup for the first time. In this year, nine crews fought out the maiden fours, with North Shore winning by two lengths from
Sydney, Glebe third, and East
Sydney and Mercantile behind. The regatta itself was said to be a great success: "such cheering and enthusiasm has seldom, if ever before, been noticed at an amateur meeting. The winners were also each awarded gold medals and later gold oars, as individual trophies for this event. At the time of its inception, the Gold Cup was looked upon as an outstanding trophy for rowing.
1933 NSW King's Cup crew
Sydney wins the 1967 Gold Cup by 1 foot from Riverview
A second regatta was held in November of that year to honour Catholic Bishops, assembled in
Sydney for the first Plenary Council. The programme provided for six events, mainly of College crews and their supporters. From this modest beginning, the Annual Riverview Regatta has grown into eighty events today with one thousand competitors and ten thousand spectators through the day.
The Gold Cup Trophy took about three months to complete and was put on show in April 1893. At the time it was said to be the only gold cup for rowing in the world. According to The Town & Country Journal (1 May 1893), apart from its intrinsic value (29 oz. of gold), it was one of the finest specimen of anything of its kind yet manufactured in Australia.
The Gold Trophies ready to be won
The Cup features the characteristic flora and fauna of Australia. The handles of the trophy come out of the upper potion of the body of the kangaroo, while the garlands and wreaths that ornament it are the leaves and flowers of the
waratah. The front of the trophy is engraved with eight-oared boats, in full swing. The figure of an oarsman holding the College flag surmounts the lid.
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