Regatta to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 4 from 11am on Sunday 29 March

The 2015 King’s and Queen’s Cups Interstate Regatta, proudly supported by Infratects Pty Ltd, will take place on 29 March at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith as part of the 2015 Sydney International Rowing Regatta.

The event is the pinnacle and closing event of the regatta and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 4 from 11am AEDT on 29 March 2015.

The event has been dominated by Victoria, with the state lifting the Rowing Australia Cup a record 11 times, while Queensland have won it twice in 2003 and 2014, while New South Wales have lifted the cup three times.

With the State Crews all confirmed, Rowing Australia previews below the various races that make up the event.

THE KING’S CUP (INTERSTATE MEN’S EIGHT) – sponsored by Infratects Pty Ltd

2014 Winner – New South Wales (NSW)
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Current champions New South Wales are drawn in Lane 6 and the race is always one of the high points of the event. The race to claim the King’s Cup should again come down to the two most prolific winners of the ornate trophy, Victoria and New South Wales.

NSW will be looking to extend their state record winning streak to eight in a row stretching back to 2008, also held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre. Both crews will field crews almost exclusively filled by members of the recently announced Australian Rowing Team, making them truly world-class. South Australia will certainly feature after their stunning race for silver in 2014, but it will be tough for them to push past the crews from Victoria and NSW.

THE QUEEN’S CUP (INTERSTATE WOMEN’S EIGHT) – sponsored by Infratects Pty Ltd

2014 Winner – Victoria
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The Victorian crew for the Queen’s Cup this year are formidable to say the least. The crew features six members of the Australian Women’s Eight, one member of the Australian Women’s Quad plus the 2013 World Rowing Champion in the Women’s Single Scull, while the ninth member of the squad was in last year’s U23 Australian Rowing Team.

It is hard to see any of the other crews chasing Victorians who are on a 10 year winning streak, however South Australia are looking strong again after their 2014 silver medal, while New South Wales’s young crew will potentially challenge Queensland for a podium finish.

THE PRESIDENT’S CUP (INTERSTATE MEN’S SINGLE)

2014 Winner – New South Wales (Alexander ‘Sasha’ Belonogoff)
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Alexander ‘Sasha’ Belonogoff for NSW comes in as the reigning champion of this event and the New South Welshman will come in as the favourite to retain his title, especially having both won bronze at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in the Men’s Double Scull and having recently been named in the Australian Rowing Team.

Rhys Grant (WA), Max McQueeney (TAS) and Chris Morgan (SA) all return from successes in the last few years, while Luke Letcher of the Australian Capital Territory will make an appearance in his first President’s Cup, and like his fellow competitors will be keen to emulate Grant’s heist of the event in 2013.

THE NELL SLATTER TROPHY (INTERSTATE WOMEN’S SINGLE)

2014 Winner – Queensland (Sally Kehoe)
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Kim Crow returns to race in the Women’s Single Scull event and with Crow’s recent form, it will be hard to not back her to take the trophy this year. Having won both a World Championship gold and silver in the boat class, the Victorian will be the favourite to win, however she will have to usurp the sculler with the most ever wins in the event, Queensland’s Sally Kehoe.

Kehoe has beaten Crow in the event in the past, back in 2011, and is renowned as one of the toughest competitors in the country and with the inclusion of the ever-green Kerry Hore for Tasmania, it proves to be a strong race between some of Australia’s top female scullers.

THE PENRITH CUP (INTESTATE MEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT FOUR) – sponsored by Penrith City Council

2014 Winner – Queensland
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The history of this event has changed significantly in the past three years – prior to 2013, Queensland had never won the Penrith Cup. Now, with back-to-back victories and a crew that includes three of the four athletes in the Australian lightweight men’s four (Darryn Purcell, Nick Silcox and Tim McDonnell) a triumvirate of victories looks to be on the cards. New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria all look to have built strong combinations this year, however spectators will be hard-pushed to not think the men in maroon will claim the Penrith Cup once again.

THE VICTORIA CUP (INTERSTATE WOMEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT QUAD)

2014 Winner – Tasmania
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Tasmania are traditionally strong in lightweight events, and reasserted their authority in 2014 to reclaim the Victoria Cup after Western Australia snapped up the trophy in 2012 and 2013. With an almost unchanged line-up, including World Rowing Cup medallist Ella Flecker, the Victoria Cup is looking likely to head back over the Bass Strait.

After a few years of building momentum the strongest challenge looks likely to come from New South Wales, who have named two members of the 2014 World Championship silver medal winning crew in the LW4x, Sarah Pound and Laura Dunn.

THE NOEL F WILKINSON TROPHY (INTERSTATE MEN’S YOUTH EIGHT) – sponsored by Destination NSW

2014 Winner – Victoria
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This event brought out the race of the regatta in 2014 – Victoria rowing over the top of Queensland on the line to win by less than a second. Both crews are looking strong again in 2014, who along with a top-class line up from New South Wales should make up the three podium positions. However, watchers of the regatta would be hard-pushed to predict in which order the three crews will cross the line.

THE BICENTENNIAL CUP (INTERSTATE WOMEN’S YOUTH EIGHT) – sponsored by Destination NSW

2014 Winner – Queensland
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Queensland winning the Bicentennial Cup in 2014 was regarded by some as the upset of the regatta, and launched a number of the crew into Australian Junior, Under 21 and Under 23 teams.

Five of the crew from last year are back again, so it seems assured that they will remain the ones to beat. The New South Wales crew looks distinctly different this year, with previous crew members heading up to the Queen’s Cup, so the ladies in light blue remain a bit of a dark horse for the event, while the Victorians will always bring out the big guns for the pinnacle women’s youth event.