Corio Bay Rowing Club reels in eight gold medals at 2025 Rowing Victoria State Championships

A Geelong rowing club’s strong junior contingent are riding high off a strong Victorian state title campaign, their numerous medals helping the club secure a top five ranking at the regatta.

Corio Bay Rowing Club’s Rio Smith, James Trott, Eden Smith, Tadhg Bailey, Henry Coulson, Ned Joyce, Zander Bailey, Skye Quirk, Noah Brandie and Beatrix Hearn won a collection of medals at the 2025 Rowing Victoria State Championships. Picture: Brad Fleet

If their recent Rowing Victoria State Championships performances are anything to go by, Corio Bay Rowing Club’s junior ranks are reaping the rewards of their hard work.

The club took home seven gold medals, along with five silver and four bronze, at the two-day regatta in Nagambie earlier this month, with their junior contingent accounting for its entire golden haul – and many of its other medals – while two teen rowers Zander and Tadhg Bailey also claimed another first place rowing in school colours.

It saw Corio Bay rise to fourth overall in the rankings behind Mercantile, Essendon and Melbourne University, following the club’s dominant performance at their home Barwon Regatta earlier this year where the club topped the rankings.

“Clean sweep, we put a lot of work in so it was really rewarding,” rower Beatrix Hearn said of the group, who often bank up to 6-7 training sessions a week.

Among the results, Rio Smith claimed two gold, one in the female under 17 single scull final and another in an under-21 double scull final with Hearn, while Syke Quirk achieved a similar feat, winning the under 15 single scull final before taking out the double scull final with Eden Smith.

Sisters Rio and Eden Smith both claimed gold medals at the 2025 Rowing Victoria State Championships. Picture: Brad Fleet

For Hearn, 18, and Smith, 15, a gold in the under-21 final came as something of a surprise considering they were well and truly bottom-agers in the field.

“Pulled it together at the right time,” Hearn said. “It was a good race.”

In the under-17 single scull final, Zander Bailey edged out twin brother Tadhg for gold by 0.25 seconds, though the pair later combined for gold in the school double scull open division one final representing Western Heights College, as well as bronze in a A-grade double scull final.

Henry Coulson and Noah Brandie would also pair for gold in the B-grade double scull, James Trott prevailed in the boys under 15 single scull final, while Ned Joyce finished with a silver and bronze in school and B-grade single scull finals.

Though it was yet to sink, Corio Bay club captain Ian Bridgland, who coaches the juniors alongside Jeff Watt and Jeff Sykes, said their results were no surprise in what was a successful season for all of them, as a number of them now target next weekend’s Head of the Schoolgirls regatta on the Barwon River and the Australian Rowing Championships in Tasmania later this month.

“They’re just really keen to race,” Bridgland said of the teens.

“You don’t learn to race just training, it’s an added dimension.”

In other championship results, Barwon Rowing Club’s Thomas Hastings and Elliott Renton-Gibb won gold in the men’s club double scull final, with Hastings also claiming first place with a composite crew in the men’s lightweight pair final.

Meanwhile, Geelong Grammar’s female open eight division 2 crew also took home gold in their final.

Originally published as Corio Bay Rowing Club reels in eight gold medals at 2025 Rowing Victoria State Championships