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Barnaby Cundell

Torrens Rowing Club (SA)

At the time of writing this profile, Barny had just been recognised by Rowing South Australia for his 50 years of volunteering for the sport of rowing. His contribution is immense and continues unabated today. He is one of those golden threads that holds the fabric of our sport together.

Barny commenced his rowing at Adelaide High School, then called Adelaide Boys High School. His progressed through the under 15s, then achieved a second placing in 1970 in the under 16s, before progressing to the open four and then the first VIII.

Immediately after school, he joined Torrens Rowing Club where he raced for a few years before he began his best work as a volunteer. His umpiring career commenced in 1975-76 season after being cornered by Bryan Draper who told him that since his rowing finished, he needed to be an umpire. Barny continues to this day as an umpire at both State and national levels.

Barny as a member of 2005 Australian Championships jury - front row third from left

But it wasn't just volunteering through umpiring alone, Barny has served the sport in many capacities, including:

Rowing South Australia Board Member
Rowing South Australia Regatta Committee Chairman
President, and other time Committee member of, Torrens Rowing Club
School coach Adelaide High School - in a touching story, one of his Adelaide School crews provided a rowers' tribute with oars on the exit from the Church at his wedding
Australian Championships organising committee member whenever a national event was conducted in South Australia
Generally assisting course and equipment maintenance given that he is a very handy person.
Despite having never rowed, Barny encouraged his accountant father to be the Treasurer of Rowing SA.

Needless to say, he is an honorary life member of Rowing South Australia.

But Barny's volunteering went beyond the sport of rowing. Given a family background in the theatre, Barny has been on the crew of many amateur productions, usually building sets. This led to being a professional crew member on the biggest shows to tour Adelaide, including Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon.

His expertise was therefore also sought to create the floats for the past 25years for Adelaide's Christmas pageant. Currently he assists his local RSL Club with maintenance of its clubhouse.

A remarkable man and a remarkable contribution to our sport.

Andrew Guerin
April 2025

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, errors may exist. Please send advice of any errors or inaccuracies by email to:

andrewguerin@rowinghistory-aus.info

Also your comments, suggestions and photos are sought to enhance this site.

The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004 - 2025
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