2 days ago
Lismore Rowing Club struggles to survive in flood-prone city
In one of Australia's most flood-prone cities, a sporting club that used to be responsible for performing flood rescues is in need of rescuing itself.
The Lismore Rowing Club has trophies dating back to the late 1880s in its cabinet, and in the 1960s and 1970s was a powerhouse of NSW school rowing.
It also used to be called the Lismore Water Brigade and Rowing Club, and in the 1920s and 1930s, maintained up to 12 rescue boats, crewed by rowers from the club to perform flood rescues.
Sadly, the club is now down to fewer than 20 active rowers, and most of those are aged between 60 and 80.
Lismore Rowing Club President Laurie Lynch said unless they could attract "new blood", the club was facing an uncertain future.
The club lost 20 boats during the 2022 floods, when water ripped through their shed at Loftville, beside the Wilsons River.
There is still debris from the floods stuck high in a tree near where they launch their boats on the river.
"It has been a very trying time for the Lismore Rowing Club since COVID, and then the 2022 floods, which had a devastating effect on our club," club president Laurie Lynch said.
"We lifted boats and equipment above the 2017 levels but still got caught out. It was a major flood and reached 3.5m inside the shed."
The NSW rowing fraternity rallied around Lismore in the wake of the 2022 floods, with clubs like Sydney, Leichhardt, Nepean, Abbotsford, Drummoyne and UTS donating boats as replacements.
But having enough equipment has become the least of the club's problems.
"The river was unusable for many months after that because of the potential hazard due to pollution in the river," Laurie Lynch said.
"More recently, with Cyclone Alfred and all the rain events, it made access to the river from our boat launching ramp fairly dangerous because of all the mud and sludge.
But there are some signs of hope for the Lismore Rowing Club's future.
A couple of the big schools in Lismore, Trinity and Richmond River High have recently returned to the water as part of their school sport program.
"At the moment the prospects for the club aren't brilliant because we don't have any senior rowers to go to regattas," club coach Peter Wallace said.
"If we can get some of these kids going that may attract some more older people to come to it."
The rowing club is one of the few organisations in Lismore that embraces the river and does not try to shut it out.
On a good day, the river's steep banks shelter the boats from the wind to create a perfectly smooth surface for rowing.
"The river when it is at its best is just magnificent," Laurie Lynch said.
"It is such a peaceful place and a great picturesque view you get of the river, which you don't get any other way, by walking the bank or sitting by the river.
"It is such a beautiful feeling to be working with a group of like-minded people who are enjoying that great waterway."
