High Performance Program

The Rowing Australia High Performance Program is responsible for the training, preparation and selection of Teams to represent Australia in international competitions at Under 19, Under 21, Under 23 and Senior level; from World Cups to World Championships, the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The Australian Rowing Team has a proud history as one of World Rowing’s leading rowing nations and one of Australia’s most successful Olympic sports, consistently producing World and Olympic Champions. Rowing in Australia has a long and proud tradition of excellence. From Henry “Bobby” Pearce who won the single sculls at the Amsterdam Olympics (1928) and Los Angeles Olympics (1932), to the Oarsome Foursome of more recent years, rowing is part of the Australian psyche as one of our cornerstone Olympic and Paralympic sports. Since 1996, when the current Olympic format was adopted, Australian rowing has won 5 Gold, 9 Silver and 9 Bronze Medals, as well as 27 Gold, 22 Silver and 20 Bronze Medals at World Championships. Australian rowing has won a Silver Medal at each of the Paralympic Games following the introduction of rowing to the Paralympic program.

The Rowing Australia High Performance Program is a coordinated and consistent national leadership model focused on Olympic and Paralympic Medal outcomes. A key element of the RA High Performance Program is the development of a robust talent pathway that will ensure that Australian rowing continues to produce sustainable success at future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The key elements of the RA High Performance Program are highlighted below:

• Australian Rowing has a proven history of sustainable multi-medal success at World Championships, Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
• RA has implemented system wide refinements to move from world class to world best.
• A key philosophy in Rowing Australia’s strategy is to treat all athletes fairly but not necessarily equally – we will target podium (especially Gold) performances from our best athletes.
• RA has developed an in-depth understanding of our athletes performance profile and have put systems in place to retain our best athletes to enable sustainable multi-medal success.
• RA has implemented a comprehensive talent identification and development pipeline system that distinguishes athletes with podium potential and provides them with the appropriate support to ensure that they reach their potential.
• RA is committed to best practice sporting governance from our Board through to our management and our integrated national system led by the High Performance Program.