Head of The River (New South Wales) - AAGPS Head of The River Regatta

AAGPS Head of The River Regatta

The AAGPS Head of the River regatta is run by the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales, and takes place in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia every March at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC).

From 1893 until 1935, the Regatta was held on the Parramatta River; from 1936 until 1996 on the Nepean River; and since 1996 at the Olympic course. From 1893 until 1909 the race was contested by four-oared boats, and by eight-oared boats since then. Since 1996 the race has been contested over 2000 metres; all previous events were over a mile and a half, except in 1946 and 1947 when the races were over a mile and a quarter. It is the culmination of the GPS (Great Public Schools) rowing season for senior crews, and has been held since 1893. Eight of the nine GPS schools, Sydney Grammar School, The King's School, Newington College, Sydney Boys High School, The Scots College, St. Joseph's College, Saint Ignatius' College and Shore School, send their crews to the Head of the River.

The race is held over 2000m. It is the last race of the official GPS rowing season, following on from the Riverview Gold Cup held on the Lane Cove River. The Head of the River is one week after other summer sports premierships (such as Cricket and Basketball) have finished. This enables over ten thousand school students and other supporters to attend. Despite this, in 2008, Head of the River was held on Wednesday, with all GPS schools giving Thursday off as a holiday to students due to a booking by NSW Kayak Association.

The current (SIRC) record time (and former junior world record/world best time until 2001) for the First VIII is 5:42.6 set by Shore on 23 March 1996.

During the 2007 Head of the River the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority attempted to test some rowers of the Shore and King's first eight crews.