The 41st Annual

Disher Cup Regatta

22 October 2011

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Introduction to the Disher Cup Regatta

The annual Disher Cup Regatta was first contested in 1971 between the Royal Military College (RMC-D) and the Australian National University (ANU). This year will see the race contested between the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and ANU. The main event of the regatta is the Disher Cup for men’s eights. The Cup is named after Dr H.C. (Clive) Disher, who was the stroke of the AIF number 1 crew that won the King’s Cup at the Royal Henley Peace Regatta in 1919. The Disher Challenge Cup race is held in memory of that crew.

Other events conducted at the Disher Cup Regatta are the L.W.Nichol Shield for men’s coxed fours (first presented in 1989) and the Colonel Diane Harris Trophy for women’s coxed fours (first presented in 1999). The Anne Curtis Cup for women’s eights (first presented in 1993) will not be contested this year.

Brigadier Harold Clive Disher CBE, ED, MD, DA (RCP & S), O St J 1891-1976

Clive Disher was born at Rosedale, Victoria, and attended Rosedale State School, Gippsland College, Sale and Scotch College, Melbourne where he rowed in the 1910 and 1911 Head of the River crews.

He enrolled at Melbourne University in 1912, rowed for Ormond College and stroked the Melbourne University Boat Club intervarsity eights of 1913 and 1914. He also rowed in the 1914 Victorian state eight.

On completing his medical degree he was appointed Captain, Australian Medical Corps, served in France with the 5th Field Ambulance with distinction, and was recommended for the Military Cross.

Between the wars Clive Disher worked mainly as an anaesthetist. He joined the AIF again in 1939. From 1940 to 1941 he had responsibility for medical services in North Africa. He was then appointed CBE and took part in the Greek campaign. In November 1942 he was promoted to temporary and sent to Port Moresby.

Undoubtedly his greatest rowing achievement was in 1919 when, as Captain H. C. Disher, he stroked the AIF No.1 Crew to victory at the Royal Henley Peace Regatta.

Many years later Clive Disher was named “Athlete of the Year” in the Australasian Section of the Worldwide Helms Trophy.

(Source: Buckrich, Judith, “Well Rowed University: Melbourne University Boat Club, the first 150 years”, 2009)

1919 ROYAL HENLEY PEACE REGATTA

In July 1919 the Royal Henley Peace Regatta was organised for amateur oarsmen from the Allied Armies in an effort to reinvigorate rowing as a sport in the post-war era.

In selecting Australian crews for the regatta the Australian Imperial Force Sports Control Board canvassed the whole of the AIF, and experienced men who were fit and willing to row were eventually relocated to London. Many gaps had been made in the ranks of rowing men by casualties, and the rigours of war had incapacitated others.

However, there were still some experienced oarsmen at hand to lend their help and experience to the "unknown quantities" who volunteered in large numbers. The chief difficulty at the beginning was to keep the best Australian rowing men in England. They had been away from their homes for long periods, and were naturally anxious to return.

Assembling the prospective representatives of the was a slow process. It was necessary to collect them from their units in the field or depots in England. However, by March 1919 a squad was assembled and training started from the London Rowing Club's shed at Putney.

Capt. H. C. Disher, A.A.M.C., an experienced Melbourne University oarsman, was selected as stroke of the AIF squad and he, along with an AIF selection subcommittee, chose the rest of the Australian crews.

Canada, France, New Zealand, and the United States each entered crews in the Peace Regatta, as did Oxford and Cambridge Universities, who had hosted officer training schools during the war. His Majesty King George V donated a trophy for the eights race.

July 5th 1919 was a great day for the thousands of Australians who found their way to Henley. The Sports Control Board had erected a stand for Australian soldiers on the river bank. In the final of the Grand Challenge Eights for the King’s Cup the AIF No. 1 crew won a convincing victory over the eight from Oxford University.

Visitors to Henley that day had an experience of the Australian diggers’ enthusiasm when their crew won the King's Cup. They went mad with delight. Another stand had been erected on the lawn at the crew's headquarters and was the scene of another wild demonstration.

The King’s Cup was brought back to and placed in the Australian War Museum. Following a petition to the King from the Victorian Rowing Association, signed by Captain Disher, Winston Churchill subsequently advised the Governor-General of Australia that it was the King’s wish that the Cup be used as a permanent trophy and be competed for annually in the Interstate Eight-Oar Race of Australia.

From 1922 to the present day the King’s wish has been obeyed, and the King’s Cup contested by eights representing the six Australian states and, since 1996, the ACT.

The members of the winning AIF No.1 crew were:

Sergt. A. R. Robb, 11st. 10lbs. (bow); Lieut. F. A. I House, 11st. 12lb. (2); Lieut. T. McGill, 12st. 10lbs. (3); Gunner A. V. Scott, 13 st. (4); Lieut. H. Hauenstein, M.M. 13st, 9lbs. (5); Major S. A. Middleton D.S.O., 13st. 6lbs. (6); Gunner G. W. Mettam, 11st. 12lbs. (7); Capt. H. C. Disher, 11st. 1lb. (stroke); Sergt. A. E. Smedley, 8st. 1lb. (cox).

(Source: Guerin-Foster “History of Australian Rowing” website, www.rowinghistory-aus.info)

8.00am Race 1 Women’s Single Sculls

Lane 1 Lane 2 Lane 3

ADFA 1 ADFA 2 ANU OFFCCDT Scholl OFFCDT Hocking Jacqui Williams

8.10am Race 2 Men’s Single Scull’s

Lane 1 Lane 2 Lane 3 Lane 4 Lane 5 Lane 6

ADFA 3 ADFA 1 ANU 1 ANU 3 ANU 2 ADFA 2 ACDT Jackson OFFCDT Hamilton David Wright Asher Benjamin Dean Erasmus OCDT Rawlinson

8.20am Race 3 Men’s Coxed Fours The L.W. Nichol Shield

Lane 1 Lane 2

ADFA ANU B OCDT Haw B Andrew Read 2 OFFCDT McLucas 2 Arthur Jones 3 OCDT Pace 3 Lachlan Peattie S OFFCDT Paxton S Liam Gooding

C OCDT Van der Weide C John Mudie Coach: Coach: Ben Adams

8.40am Race 4 Women’s Coxed Four The Colonel Diane Harris Trophy

Lane 1 Lane 2 Lane 3

ANU 2 ANU 1 ADFA

B Margot Deegan B Rebecca Fry B OFFCDT Scholl 2 Jess Williams 2 Justine Riordan 2 OCDT Cahill 3 Imogen Cowan 3 Diana Lawrence 3 OFFCDT Hume S Diana Lawrence S Imogen Cowan S MIDN Gollan C Claire Power C Claire Power C OFFCDT Hopman

Coach Katrina Mackenzie Coach Katrina Mackenzie Coach Kym Fisher

9.00am Race 5 Men’s Eight The Disher Challenge Cup

Lane 1 Lane 2

ADFA ANU B OCDT Jackson B Ben Adams 2 MIDN Gely 2 Richard Young 3 OCDT Kortlang 3 Mathias Maier 4 LT Robertson 4 Dylan Conolan 5 MIDN Bach 5 Mike Wright 6 OFFCDT Hamilton 6 Riley Owen 7 OCDT Waugh 7 Dave Wright S OCDT Jack S Nick Harris C MIDN Chinner C Kieran Kelly Coach Coach Andrew Mackenzie