University of Hong Kong Rowing Club profile

Although the school was founded in 1911, it would be many decades before rowing took shape as a competitive sport for students at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Quality over quantity

“Rowing was relatively undeveloped in Hong Kong until the 1970s,” says Nicholas Sung, Men’s Team Captain for the HKU Rowing Club. “The Hong Kong Amateur Rowing Association (now known as the Hong Kong, China Rowing Association) was established in 1978.”

A rowing club for students (the first in Hong Kong) was formed in 1981 by two professors in the faculties of Dentistry and Medicine. “Despite its small scale activity, the club continued to develop,” says Sung.

With a current complement of around 50 active members, the HKU team focuses on quality over quantity. “There is no recreational rowing at the HKU Rowing Club,” says Sung. “Both men’s and women’s teams comprise of a small group of student-rowers who have passed the team selection phases.”

“Our freshmen rowers go through assessments throughout the off-season trainings in order to ensure that they are committed and in fit condition to race in the summer racing season,” says Sung.

Racing and training

The main focus of training is the Hong Kong Universities Rowing Championships, now in its 22^nd year. With a field of eight university teams competing, the racing is done over two days in six boat classes (singles, doubles, quads, fours with and without coxswain and eights). The men’s and women’s four is the prestige event with each university limited to one entry.

The annual Intervarsity Rowing Championships is another goal for the HKU rowers. This race between HKU and the Chinese University of Hong Kong was established in 1987 and has been contested each year since by both schools. The women compete in fours over 1500m, while the men race in eights over 3300m. “It is a unique tradition,” says Sung, “allowing the development of rowing as well as friendships amongst rowers from different universities in Hong Kong.”

Besides racing, the rowers train in close proximity on a daily basis due to the limited space available on the island. “Shing Mun River is the only training site in Hong Kong for university rowing clubs,” Sung explains. “All clubs therefore share two main boathouses along the river.

“This phenomenon fosters friendly competition between rowers from different universities. It creates a special atmosphere on the river and at the boathouses.”

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Growing rowing

“The development of rowing at the university level has been relatively slow (in Hong Kong) compared to the rest of the world,” says Sung, who believes this comes down to geographical and sociocultural factors. With 7.3 million people squeezed into such a small area as Hong Kong, it can be difficult to find training space. “The HKU campus is approximately an hour away by public transportation (from the training site), which presents what Sung calls “one of the most fundamental challenges” faced by HKU rowers.

A career-oriented culture is also something Sung feels is a barrier to the growth of the sport, with more of a focus on academic excellence.

Despite these obstacles, university rowing is gaining momentum and with it the role universities play in the development of rowers for Hong Kong’s national team. As a “Special Administrative Region” of China, Hong Kong has the right to compete under its own flag at international competitions including the Olympics.

One significant boon to training on the Shing Mun River is that it plays host to national team rowers. Sung believes this helps inspire the university rowers to pursue ring at an international level. The tradition of engagement goes back to 1982 as members of university team were racing for Hong Kong at the Asian Games and other events.

James Wong is the only current member of the HKU Rowing Club to hold a seat on the national team. Wong was part of the gold medal men’s four at last year’s Asian Rowing Cup II. HKU rowers Anna Fisher and Karen Lai represented Hong Kong before attending and racing for HKU.

Success through succession

“The team defines success through succession,” says Sung. “In light of [that], our team has come up with three objectives to succeed: 1) follow or replace another; 2) thrive, prosper or grow; 3) to accomplish what is intended.”

“Every season our team focuses on ensuring that the bridge between newcomers and our current team members is well built, so that succession in terms of numbers, knowledge, mindset and performance is made,” says Sung.

There is little doubt HKU will continue for years to come.