Lake Barrington International Course, Tasmania · 23–29 March 2026. Seven events across three age grades — Schoolboy, Under 19 and Under 21 — sweep and sculling, in the toughest conditions of my season.
I went into the 2026 Australian Championships entered across seven events and three age grades — Schoolboy, Under 19 and Under 21, in both sweep and sculling. What I didn't go in with was support. This was a week I raced essentially on my own: at one point I couldn't borrow a single scull for my Under 19 repechage, so I couldn't take my place on the line. Where a result below reads “did not start” or “withdrawn,” that is the story behind it — not a crew that couldn't race, but a week without the boats or backing to get every crew to the start.
Lake Barrington threw weather at everyone. Racing was suspended, repechages were pulled and reinstated, and the lake delivered a headwind that turned some races into pure survival — a heat we won in 9:14 we later rowed in 7:35 once the water settled.
And still it gave me the best rowing of my life — a national A-Final in the Schoolboy Double, a seat in open-age crews as a schoolboy, and one honour that mattered more than any result. That story is below.
The best part of my week wasn't a result — it was a seat. I raced in Randall Martin's crew, alongside University of Queensland senior men three years older than me. That same regatta, Randall Martin coached Queensland to its first King's Cup in 87 years — the most famous drought in Australian rowing, broken.
Being trusted in a crew like that, as a schoolboy, was an honour. Rowing with great rowers is what I love about this sport — and it's exactly what I'm looking for in a US program.
🥇 A-FINAL — 4th of 22 crews — 7:35.25
With my double-scull partner C. White, I won our heat, came through the semi-final in second — just 0.21 seconds behind the only crew ahead of us, the other Nudgee double — and qualified straight into the Championship A-Final. There we finished fourth in Australia, in a boat class we built from scratch across the season.
Two Nudgee doubles made the A-Final and finished 4th and 5th — a statement from a single school program against the best schoolboy scullers in the country.
| Round | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Heat 2 | 1st — won | 9:14.76 |
| Semi-Final | 2nd | 7:39.59 |
| A-Final | 4th — national | 7:35.25 |
| Round | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Heat 1 | 3rd | 6:31.34 |
| Semi-Final | 5th | 6:38.93 |
| Round | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Heat 1 | 6th | 7:39.37 |
| Repechage | 4th | 7:17.49 |
| Semi-Final | 7th | 7:21.75 |
| B-Final | 4th | 9:00.43 |
Rowing up an age group in a composite university crew — full progression through to the B-Final.
| Round | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Heat 1 | 6th | 6:53.72 |
| Semi-Final | 8th | 7:38.04 |
| B-Final | withdrawn | — |
| Round | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Heat 8 | 4th | 7:50.00 |
| Repechage | did not start | — |
| Round | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Heat 1 | 5th | 6:56.90 |
| Repechage | withdrawn | — |
Several entries show as “withdrawn” or “did not start.” This was a week raced without school support — including being unable to borrow a single scull for my Under 19 repechage. The crews I could get to the line, I raced through to their finals.
"This week wasn't supported by my school, and that made it hard — in the single, I couldn't even borrow a boat for my repechage. But the highlight was rowing in Randall Martin's crew, the crew behind Queensland's first King's Cup in 87 years. Rowing with great rowers is what I love — and what I'm looking for."
Dash Withnall — Lake Barrington, March 2026