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A Centenary of Rowing Regattas— Murray Rowing Association

Appendix 4 - Grand Challenge Four Winners

Winners of the Grand Challenge Race until the event was abandoned in 1930

To win a Challenge, a crew had to win two races. In the early years when there were only a few entries by local Clubs, the race would be run at least twice for a crew to gain the necessary two wins. As the number of entries increased, heats had to be run so a boat naturally had to win both heat and Challenge final to secure the Prize and this constituted the two wins.

After the change to outriggers in the 1920's, the Senior Four became the main race in conformity with the usual amateur programme and the Challenge Fours Race became outmoded and redundant, disappearing after 1930 as a Challenge Race with heats merely duplicated a Senior Fours Race with heats.

Another reason for the waning interest in the Challenge Race was that, without the incentive of financial gain after the assumption of amateur status in 1892, this Challenge Race gradually became meaningless.

At the inception of the Race, although towns are named by the winners, there were no Clubs represented. For example, Chiltern, an older (1858) goldfield than Rutherglen and represented at the first Regatta in 1860 by the winning boat "White Squall", would not have had a Rowing Club. It is obvious that, at first, a boat represented a group of men who had a financial interest in racing their particular boat. It was, only later, presumably in the late 1860's or early 1870's, that the Wahgunyah, Rutherglen, and later still, Corowa Clubs were formed.

Year Club
1860 Chiltern
1861 Rutherglen
1862 Rutherglen
1863 Rutherglen
1864 Wahgunyah
1865 Rutherglen
1866 Rutherglen
1867 Rutherglen
1868 Rutherglen
1869 Wahgunyah
1870 Wahgunyah
1871 Rutherglen
1872 Rutherglen
1873 Rutherglen
1874 Rutherglen
1875 Not held.
1876 Wahgunyah
1877 Wahgunyah
1878 Rutherglen
1879 Rutherglen
1880 Rutherglen
1881 Wahgunyah
1882 Wahgunyah
1883 Wahgunyah
1884 Wahgunyah
1885 Wahgunyah
1886 Rutherglen
1887 Rutherglen
1888 Wahgunyah
1889 Lake
1890 Lake
1841 Lake
1892 Lake
1893 Lake
1894 Rutherglen
1895 Echuca East
1896 Echuca East
1897 Lake
1898 Lake
1899 Not Held
1900 Lake Moodemere
1901 Lake
1902 Lake
1903 Not Held
1904 Lake
1905 Lake
1906 Rutherglen
1907 Corowa
1908 Corowa
1909 Eaglehawk
1910 Lake
1911 Lake
1912 Lake
1913 Wahgunyah
1914 Wahgunyah
1915 Wahgunyah
1916 Lake
1917 Wagga
1918 Corowa
1919 Corowa
1920 Corowa
1921 Wahgunyah
1922 Wahgunyah
1923 Shepparton
1924 Melbourne
1925 Wahgunyah
1926 Parks
1927 Nagambie
1928 Nagambie
1929 Rutherglen Lake
1930 Nagambie

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