Lismore Rowing Club - Lismore | Australian Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Lismore Rowing Club is based at its clubhouse at 120 Bruxner Highway, Loftville, north-east of Lismore Lake. The clubhouse is beside the Wilsons River, and the incorporated club has held an active ABN since November 1999.

The club had been established by July 1896. In 1941, a newspaper report recorded that 14 members had enlisted for war service. During 1945, a subcommittee proposed combining rowing with a water brigade, and the council arranged to hand back assets that it had held in trust for the club.

When known as the Lismore Water Brigade and Rowing Club, its rowers crewed as many as 12 rescue boats during floods in the 1920s and 1930s. ABC reported that the club became a force in NSW school rowing during the 1960s and 1970s and retains trophies dating to the late 1880s.

Flooding in 2022 destroyed 20 of the 32 boats in its shed. Rowing NSW listed the lost singles, doubles, pairs, quads, fours and eights, while clubs including Sydney, Leichhardt, Nepean, Abbotsford, Drummoyne and UTS later donated replacement boats.

By August 2025, the club had fewer than 20 active rowers, most aged between 60 and 80. It was still welcoming new members, offering individual tuition and meeting at its Loftville shed on Saturday mornings; ABC also reported that Trinity and Richmond River High had recently returned to the water through school programmes.

The club organises its regatta at Coraki on the Richmond River. The 2024 edition had 49 events, 152 entries and 87 athletes across novice, handicapped and open racing, with boats from singles through to eights.