Members of the Community Rowing Club’s para-rowing program currently have to descend down a rocky, steep pathway to access their boatshed in Lane Cove. Previously held at Balmain Rowing Club which temporarily closed for renovations, this shift in location has meant that many previous members are now unable to participate.
The location change has incentivised a years-long campaign for a new community boatshed at Iron Cove, allowing disabled rowers to access this sport together with other athletes from diverse backgrounds. The campaign, which has received support from the Local Aboriginal Land Council, describes the proposal as follows:
“The entire build is constructed over water, with the exception of the walkway that links it to land. The design facilitates effortless movement throughout the proposed structure for all – whether ambulant, or person who relies on a wheelchair, those with a visual impairment, those diagnosed with cerebral palsy and those with any other disability.”
When invited to see the current club by co-founder Barbara Ramjan, I was met with an immensely warm sense of community. Promptly after, Barbara essentially chucked me into a boat as a coxswain for the first time. The sense of community in the club extends onto the water. The boat of eight rowers showed me so much support and encouragement through my clueless coxing and overzealous steering, resulting in only one (small) collision with a buoy.
The boatshed project aims to service the wider community, as well as to facilitate 20 para rowers vying for selection for the Paralympics, fostering the development of a para 8 crew, and to facilitate an Indigenous 8 crew competing in the NSW State Championships.
Inner West Council, pursuant to the Disability Inclusion Act 2014 (NSW), have a Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023-2026, which sets out various targets for the council to implement within the community.
Some of these targets include:
- Article 9: Identifying and removing barriers and obstacles so that persons with disabilities can access their environments, transport, facilities, services, information and communication technologies
- Article 19: creating environments, services and programs that enable persons with disabilities to be included in the community and to live independently
- Articles 29 and 30: ensuring persons with disabilities can participate in the political, civic, cultural and recreational life of the community
Point 1.5 under the Social Inclusion subsection of the Action Plan states as an actionable: “Increased participation of people in health, wellness, recreation programs and water-based recreation,” with point 1.8 reading: “Build capacity with local sporting and recreation groups to attract participants with disability.”
I interviewed Zarni Tun, who has been part of the para-rowing program since 2014.
“We’ve been left behind for so long, that it’s hard to understand unless you really want to dig into and learn about how to help people with disabilities,” he said, with the lack of authentic and substantive inclusion prominent in “a lot of the systems that we’ve built now.”
“You can either see a person with a disability in a car crash ad, or in the Paralympics. Both of which are extreme ends, right? And my thing is, like, whenever you put something on a pedestal, you kind of detract everybody’s attention from what it actually is about.”
When asked about the importance of avenues for inclusive sport, he noted that “with sport, I don’t do it for any competitiveness anymore. I just do it for myself and just to be part of the community. And so I can engage in the community.”
“I’m trying to get back into this community, because I feel like it’s the only disability outlet that I have. Like all my other outlets are the creative scene, or at work where everybody’s like 40, 50 years plus. Like I’m the same age as their kids…”
He spoke to how the push for the club has been a lengthy process:
“We’re working on the development of the new club, and I’ve seen it back and forth, […] a development like that shouldn’t take that long, and it’s only now that we’re getting started.”
“It’s been a back and forth with almost everybody. People say oh, ‘we’re welcoming’ and stuff like that.” However, “the people in management or people in power just see it as a burden rather than an opportunity.”
“If only they invested a little bit more into their diversity kind of funds. It’s messed up that I even have to use the word diversity funds. It’s just like, it’s the only way people understand it.”
He spoke to the club’s current location, emphasising that “the fact that we have a temporary club that is not that accessible,” means “we can’t bring in as many people that we want.”
When speaking about their previous location at Balmain rowing club, Zarni said “We had people in wheelchairs come through, even though there was like a flight of stairs set up…” “you had to walk down the flight of stairs to get to the pontoon, and you couldn’t renovate it because it’s heritage and old.”
“Looking back at it now, they did renovations, because we had been asking them to build a ramp and what not… They finally built accessible bathrooms. And asked somebody from the para-rowing club to cut the ribbon for it. I didn’t think about it at the time. But I was like, damn. I should have never said yes to that.”
Zarni spoke to the further wellbeing benefits the space would promote: “If we could have a fully accessible gym, that would be great, like, it’s a community space, we don’t have to feel uncomfortable in our bodies when we go to the gym.”
USyd Student Representatives’ Council Disabilities Officer Khanh Tran said: “We are disappointed and concerned about the state of the Tambourine Bay rowing club” pertaining to the current steep decline which renders the sport inaccessible for some participants.
“The club is a great grassroots community space for disabled rowers,” they said, “and we urge the Council to take action,” endorsing the building of the Iron Cove club to ensure that rowers can enjoy a space which is both “accessible and acceptable.”
As it stands, the next hurdle for the local campaign will be approval from the Sydney Eastern Planning Panel. The endorsements and support for the project are vast, with letters of support including statements from Paralympics Australia, Rowing Australia, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, and Vision Australia.
At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, the Australian para-rowing team took home Australia’s first gold medal for the sport. This comes 16 years after the sport was first introduced into the paralympic program.
Rowing clubs on the Bay Run currently service many local rowers: Leichhardt rowing club, Haberfield rowers, and Drummoyne Rowing Club. The members behind Community Rowing Club have been advocating for greater access to the sport for both para-rowers and non-para rowers regardless of their background for over 15 years. It is incumbent on the council and our community to ensure that the space, and the sport, can be accessed by everyone.
