"VAN" (Sports Desk - 28.03.2026) :: The Interstate Regatta, this year presented by Events Tasmania at Lake Barrington on Sunday, are rowing’s answer to ‘State of Origin,’ where club crewmates one day will suddenly find themselves opposed as archrivals the next.
The afternoon regatta follows the final races on Sunday morning of the 2026 Australian Rowing Championships (ARC26) that have seen a record 2,100 athletes compete and a decade-long partnership between Rowing Australia and Hancock Prospecting, led by Rowing Australia Patron Mrs Gina Rinehart AO celebrated.
What sets the Interstate Regatta apart is that for one day, many crewmates become opponents, as they swap club colours for state representative colours. The battle is for both the individual race title trophies and the ‘John Coates AC Cup,’ that goes to the State or Territory that wins the 10-race regatta on overall points.
The blue riband interstate clashes are the Queen’s Cup and King’s Cup races for the women’s and men’s Interstate Eights, the last two events on the regatta program.
The King’s Cup, Sunday’s final race, dates back to the Australian Imperial Force crew that won the trophy at the 1919 Henley Peace Regatta and brought it back to Australia. Since 1922 it has been the perpetual trophy for the Interstate Men’s Eight and remains one of the most prestigious events in Australian rowing.
The Interstate Women’s Eight, meanwhile, has been raced as an eight oared event since 1999 after changing from the original Four, and in 2003 was officially named the Queen Elizabeth II Trophy, or Queen’s Cup. It has since grown into an equally prestigious centrepiece of the Interstate Championships alongside the King’s Cup.
The Interstate Regatta start at 1pm with the Women's PR3 Single Scull and Men’s PR3 Single Scull races. They are then followed by the President’s Cup (men’s single scull), Nell Slatter Trophy (women’s single scull), Penrith Cup (men’s lightweight four), Victoria Cup (women’s lightweight quad), and the Noel F. Wilkinson Trophy and Bicentennial Trophy for the men’s and women’s youth eights.
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