FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canberra, 14 March 2020
 

2020 Aon Sydney International Rowing Regatta cancelled
 
Women’s Centenary Dinner also cancelled
 

Rowing Australia (RA) today confirmed that the 2020 Aon Sydney International Rowing Regatta (SIRR 2020) has been cancelled due to the Federal Government announcement that non-essential mass gatherings of more than 500 are recommended not to proceed from Monday 16 March 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The cancellation of SIRR 2020 means that RA will not run the 2020 Australian Open Championships (including the sprints), Australian Open Schools Championships or King’s and Queen’s Cups Interstate Regatta. The event was scheduled to be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre from 23 to 29 March 2020.
 
In addition to SIRR 2020 being cancelled, the planned Centenary of Women’s Rowing dinner, scheduled for Saturday 28 March in Penrith, will also not take place. RA has determined that it is responsible and prudent to cancel the dinner at this time in light of the Federal Government’s advice, noting that many of those attending the dinner would also have been planning to attend SIRR 2020.
 
Rowing Australia CEO, Ian Robson said, “We regret to inform the community that the 2020 Aon Sydney International Rowing Regatta will not take place this year and that we’re unable to also celebrate the women’s centenary of interstate rowing at this time. The decision to cancel this year’s event was made for Rowing Australia by the relevant government agencies and we of course support the actions being taken to help protect the health and well-being of the whole country.
 
“While we are saddened to have to cancel this year’s event, the health, wellbeing and safety of all the rowing community – participants, volunteers, officials, staff and spectators – must always come first.
 
“We apologise for any inconvenience that the cancellation of Nationals may cause. We will discuss in due course, with our State Associations, the feasibility and viability of an abridged Interstate Regatta for later in 2020; while we look forward to welcoming all of you at Lake Barrington in 2021, while we will look to celebrate the Centenary of Women’s Rowing later in the year.”
 
RA will immediately begin the process of contacting ticket holders for both SIRR 2020 and the Women’s Centenary dinner shortly and also all participants (schools and clubs).  
 
In addition, RA is aware that this year’s SIRR was an Event Requirement (ER), ahead of Underage Selection Trials, for those athletes looking to be selected into one of Australia’s Underage National Teams for the FISA 2020 Combined World Championships and the U21 Trans-Tasman Regatta. The ER’s for these teams are currently being reviewed and any individual with questions surrounding those ER’s and underage trials should, in the first instance, contact their State Pathway Lead in the State Institute/Academy network.
 
We encourage all our community to continue to closely monitor the situation around COVID-19 via the relevant State and Federal Health Authorities and the AIS website. The easiest way to protect yourself and others is to pay attention to good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene – please refer to our fact sheet here.

Frequently Asked Questions can be found here on the SIRR website.