Rowing clubs form partnership

Sydney's North Shore Rowing Club (NSRC) and the Seta Rowing Club of Otsu City in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, have formed a sister-club partnership. 16 members of the Japanese club, led by its director Ritsuo Imashiro, visited the NSRC, led by club president Sue Wannan, to commemorate the arrangement at a signing ceremony. The friendship was formed following a suggestion by Nippon Steel Australia chief Hiroaki Kobayashi, a member of the NSRC since coming to Australia in 2005.

"It means that we will be able to share each other's facilities, but we also hope that this will help to spread interest in rowing in Japan," Imashiro says. Whereas Australian rowing is generally a community-based activity, rowing in Japan is normally limited to universities and business clubs. Seta Rowing Club is one of the few community-based clubs in Japan, and since its establishment in 1977 has produced international rowers while also promoting water sports in the broader community. This is NSRC's first international sister-club relationship in its 130-year history.