Nominate your students for the Golden Oar main erg relay

Your fastest student on the erg already has a number. A 500 m PB, written on a whiteboard or carried around in their head, usually raced against a clock and nobody else.

On Saturday 31 October 2026, that number can become a seat in a team. The Golden Oar main erg relay puts one school boy and one school girl in every team, alongside a male and a female Rowing Australia athlete.

School students raced alongside the athletes at last year’s Golden Oar erg relay, and it went well.

The race

It is a 4 x 500 m relay. Each rower does 500 m, one after the other, so every student rows one leg. Five hundred metres is short enough to be brave about.

There are 20 teams, which makes 20 school boys and 20 school girls. The race is on the afternoon of Saturday 31 October, as part of the Golden Oar festival at Black Mountain Peninsula, Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. The festival runs 30 October to 1 November 2026 and is free for spectators.

It is open to Canberra schools and to schools travelling to the Golden Oar.

How to nominate

Nominate as many students as you like. There are two steps, in this order.

1. Get your students into AIRO26. Each student you nominate must have entered AIRO26 themselves. The racing window is 24 October to 1 November 2026. School licences are available, and students enter free with the school’s activation code. Enter AIRO26
2. Nominate them on the form. Use the Golden Oar nomination form. For each student you will need their name, AIRO26 registration code, PB 500 m time and PB 2k time. You also need a parent or guardian’s consent to take part, to being filmed and photographed on the day for Row Nation promotion, and to the student’s first name and last initial being published if they are chosen.

Nominations close Monday 26 October. Places are limited, and Row Nation chooses the students and spreads places across schools. A nomination is a way in, not a guarantee.

After you nominate

Chosen students are announced on Wednesday 28 October, shown as first name and last initial only.

Not a school? The Open Erg Relay exhibition runs just before the main relay: teams of four from workplaces, clubs and gyms, 4 x 250 m, free, with 20 teams. See the Open Erg Relay

Your students already have the number. Get them entered, nominate by Monday 26 October, and see who gets the seat.

Nominate your students →