Louis Petrin
Drummoyne Rowing Club (NSW)
Died 8th April 2021
It was Louis’s daughter, a PLC Sydney rower, who introduced Louis to the joys of rowing. He joined Drummoyne Rowing Cub as a parent in the PLC corporate rowing program.
He became an active and valued member of Drummoyne Rowing Club, participating in Masters regattas (eights and fours) and becoming a key club administrator. He enjoyed his club rowing in the crew affectionately known as The Grumpies and was a long term member of the committee, holding the position of Treasurer for a number of years.
Hard at work for Drummoyne Rowing Club - sourced from the Club's Instagram site
He became a qualified and active boat racing official. Louis was also named the Rowing NSW 2020 Volunteer of the Year for his service to the rowing community as a NSW Boat Racing Official. He also regularly assisted with the presentations at the National Championships and became a key part of that team.
Louis (partially obscured) assisting happy crews at the presentations at 2017 National Championships - Andrew Guerin collection
Having a library degree and being a book collector, as well as owning his own business, Louis spends time delving in the history of rowing, which he found fascinating and that is why he began reading the blog Hear the Boat Sing. He became a contributor to this website providing interesting articles from Australia for the benefit of rowing aficionados throughout the world. His special interests were professional scullers and he just loved trophies, cups and medals. Louis became a highly recognised rowing historian and amassed an extensive collection of memorabilia.
Along with some other rowers, Louis was preparing to help Australian rowing clubs and enthusiasts to document and preserve historical documents and items. He was also working on the creation of a permanent rowing museum in Sydney, such was his enthusiasm for the sport. He also spent time on the National Library of Australia’s Trove website to edit OCR text of digitised newspaper articles on rowing.
A kind, generous and interesting man with the big smile.
Tony Wimble, Louis and Gavin Dods sharing a beer at Balmain R C during a ‘thank you’ put on by RNSW.
Our sincere condolences to his wife Lorraine and his family.
Compiled by Andrew Guerin from material from Drummoyne Rowing Club, Hear the Boat Sing and his own recollections.
April 2021