Giant Energy for Walford Rowing

Walford has a strong tradition of rowing with our flagship rowing program being recognised locally and internationally. Walford is proud to be the girls’ school in South Australia to have won the most Florence Eaton Cups at the Head of the River, with Walford the winning Schoolgirl 1st VIII crew a record 19 times, and Walford crews winning Head of the River races 57 times in the last ten years. Walford rowers take their confidence, resilience, grit, integrity, and capacity for leadership and teamwork well beyond their years rowing for Walford.

This year, Mr Scott Rowe, a trusted and well-credentialled expert in the field of rowing, joined Walford as Walford’s Head of Rowing and Pedal Prix. Hailing from Queensland, Scott was most recently founder and coaching director of KAND Rowing Club, a club with an enviable high-performance program focussed on elite athlete development. In August of 2024 he coached the Australian U23 men's coxless IV to a silver medal at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships, in St Catharines, Canada. Scott has additionally worked across a range of school rowing programs at Somerville House, Brisbane Grammar School, and Brisbane State High School, in which he strategically built program capacity across key elements including student participation, excellence in performance at local and national level, coach development and retention, and meaningful parent engagement.

Embodying our School values of Courage, Commitment, Community and Growth, Scott’s ‘All for One – No Regrets’ philosophy sets the foundation for our rowing squad’s environment of trust, respect and integrity. Our rowers know that their collective actions shape the culture of the Walford Boat Shed. To belong to Walford Rowing is to experience a deep sense of belonging in which all athletes are individually and collectively aspirational and supportive of one another. Together, as one team, they do the hard work, lead, grow from struggle, and celebrate successes.

Under Scott’s values-driven leadership, our Walford Giants are enjoying a terrific 2024/2025 rowing season so far. Our new boat, Electra VIII, was christened and blessed at the Season Launch. The squad has seen technical gains and good initial results at the Melbourne Head Regatta, at West Lakes and Murray Bridge, and at the Riverland Regatta. Still to come are the 2025 South Australian Rowing Championships, and of course the SA Schools' Head of the River regatta.

We cannot wait to see our what our Walford Giants continue to achieve this season.